


Our Last Summer

by LilacChocolate



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Arson, Bastille Day, Birthday, Breast Play, Christmas, Cuddling, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dirty Talk, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, Kidnapping, Kissing, Nipple Play, Pregnancy, Reveal, Skype, Sleepy Cuddles, Smut, Theft, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, thigh riding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-06-16 20:30:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 62,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15445239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacChocolate/pseuds/LilacChocolate
Summary: After defeating Hawk Moth, Adrien decides to move to Switzerland for his final year of high school as he's unable to deal with how Paris reminds him of his father. How will Marinette react?(Was originally a one-shot, and the first chapter can still be read as a self-contained story. Multi-chaptered now due to popular demand)





	1. Chapter 1

**Saturday 25th August**

With a heavy heart, Adrien dragged himself up the stairs to Alya’s family’s apartment. He, Nino, Alya, and Marinette had promised each other six mind-blowing weeks of fun as their summer holiday away from school. Now they only had one more week of freedom left, and Adrien had yet to tell his friends about his schooling for the next year.

Hawk Moth had been defeated two months ago, and with the revelation of it being his father sent Adrien reeling. He tried to keep himself together that day, when they’d captured him. He’d put on a brave face when he was with Ladybug, but as soon as he detransformed, he had collapsed in a pile of tears in his bedroom with only Plagg for comfort. He would hate to see what she would think of him if she ever found out he was Hawk Moth’s son. He wouldn’t be able to bear seeing the look of hatred and disappointment on her beautiful face.

These past two months had been torture. He’d tried to smile and laugh off his circumstances, just keeping his head down at school and having fun with his three best friends, but he couldn’t keep up the façade any longer. He had to get out of Paris, out of France. In a week’s time, he was moving to Bern, the capital of Switzerland, for his final year of high school. He would return to Paris for university, but right now, he needed to leave and get away from all of the places that reminded him of his family.

He knocked on Alya’s door and a moment later, Nino answered it with a wide grin.

‘Adrien! Come in! We’re just getting started. Marinette’s teaching us how to ice cookies.’

From within the apartment, he could hear the two aforementioned girls shrieking, and Adrien had no doubt they were chasing each other with piping bags. Sure enough, when he rounded the corner into the kitchen, Alya and Marinette had streaks of royal purple icing smeared on their cheeks as they ran after the other one.

Adrien smiled and leant against the wall as he watched them. The past four years he’d known her, Marinette had come to a hold a special place in his heart. She was, first and foremost, his princess, although he would never call her that to her face when he was in this form. And whilst she was kind and intelligent and beautiful, there was something about Ladybug that he just couldn’t shake. He was so in love with the superhero, but after this week, he’d probably never see her again. He was meeting Ladybug tonight, and if she still wouldn’t accept his feelings for her, then it was time to get over her whilst he was in Switzerland. And maybe, just maybe, he would begin to feel something for Marinette. She was a true friend and she was always there for Adrien, and he knew that she would be here for him whenever he returned to Paris.

‘Dude,’ Nino said, coming into the kitchen now, too. ‘I’ve got some sick new tunes. Want to listen as we decorate?’

‘Sure,’ Adrien said, flashing his best friend a fake smile.

As soon as Alya and Marinette had cleaned themselves up, they decorated the cookies under Marinette’s instructions, listening to Nino’s Jagged Stone playlist and talking about what their new school year would be like. Adrien smiled at his three best friends fondly as they danced around the kitchen. Since his father’s capture, Adrien had technically become an orphan, with his guardian as Nathalie, along with the Gorilla. But Nino, Alya, Marinette, and all of their families, had all done their bit in taking care of him, and for that, he was extremely grateful.

‘How do you think our final year will be, Adrien?’ Alya asked.

The smile faded from Adrien’s face. ‘Actually, guys, I have something to tell you. I was supposed to tell you weeks ago, but I didn’t want to dampen your fun, so I held back. But I need to tell you now.’ He took a deep breath and stared down at the floor. ‘I’m going to Switzerland for my final of high school. I can’t stay here. There are too many memories of my family, of what my father did.’

‘When do you leave?’ Nino asked, his voice several octaves quieter than before. Adrien barely heard it over the Jagged Stone music that was still playing in the background.

‘A week today. On Saturday. But, you know, you can visit anytime. And I’ll be coming back to Paris for university. I just… need some time away from Paris to properly come to terms with what happened.’

‘We understand,’ Alya said, and Adrien finally looked up.

Alya was staring at the floor, Nino at the wall, and it was clear that neither of them knew where to look for fear of making the situation awkward. But Marinette was looking straight at him, tears shining in her big bluebell eyes. God, he had never wanted to upset anybody, but not Marinette. _Especially_ not Marinette. But it was better this way. If in a weeks time he just didn’t turn up to school on Monday, then this whole situation would be made ten times worse than it already was.

‘I’m sorry, but…’

Marinette shook her head. ‘There’s nothing to be sorry for. We understand. You need to do this for yourself. Don’t stay on our account.’

Adrien managed a small smile, a real one this time. Marinette had been so nervous around him when they first met, but now they could hold full conversations together without Marinette stuttering or completely messing up what she was saying. Despite her clumsiness and stuttering, though, there was something about her that Adrien couldn’t quite put his finger on, something about her that reminded him of Ladybug. He dismissed the thought once more, like he’d done every time. If she really did remind him of Ladybug, then when he came back from Switzerland, maybe he could be as happy with her as he could have been with Ladybug.

…

Marinette sunk down onto her bedroom floor, sobs wracking her whole body. She had left shortly after Adrien’s news, no longer feeling like having fun, nor wanting to cry in front of everybody.

Tikki flew out of her coin purse and nuzzled Marinette’s nose. ‘At least he’s coming back for university,’ the kwami said, trying to look for the positives in this situation.

That only made Marinette cry harder. ‘It won’t be the same, Tikki. And he might not come back at all. What if he loves Switzerland? What if he meets a girl there? I’ve really tried this year, you know? I hardly ever stutter around him anymore and we have great conversations together and he flirts with me sometimes!’ Marinette held her knees to her chest as she cried. ‘I was going to tell him how I felt before we went back to school. There’s no point doing that now.’

With a sympathetic tut, Tikki flew over and sat on Marinette’s knees. ‘You could still tell him. What’s to say you couldn’t have a long-distance relationship?’

Marinette just shrugged. ‘I guess. I won’t tell him, though. He’s leaving France for a reason. I know he said we can visit Bern to see him anytime, but I don’t think he truly wants that, even if he thinks he does. Both Alya and Nino have been akumatised before, and Nathaniel and my grandma and Mark have all been after me in their akuma forms when I wasn’t Ladybug. The three of us remind him too much of what his father did.’

Tikki nodded, realising that Marinette was more than likely right. ‘We can talk about it more later. Right now, you’ve got to go and meet Chat Noir.’

Marinette shot up from the floor and dashed over to the mirror, getting rid of her tears. Even though there no longer were any akumas, there was still crime in Paris, and they would meet up once a week on different days to patrol the city. They had already met up this week, on Tuesday, but Chat had asked to meet her again tonight, on top of Galeries Lafayette, so they could talk. He wouldn’t tell her what it was about, so she had no choice but to agree.

As soon as she looked presentable, she transformed, then yo-yoed across Paris to the ninth arrondissement. Chat was already on the roof of the Galeries, his feet and tail dangling over the edge.

‘Hey,’ Ladybug said as she landed next to him, and Chat Noir smiled up at her.

‘Sit with me?’

‘Of course, kitty.’

That would usually garner a small giggle out of him, but he said nothing, and Ladybug sat down. ‘What did you want then?

He sighed and stared out at the Paris skyline. ‘Can you give me Master Fu’s address?’

‘What? Why?’

‘I need to return my miraculous to him.’

Ladybug’s eyes widened. ‘I don’t understand. Why on earth would you ever do that?’

‘Because I can’t protect Paris as Chat Noir from Switzerland. I’m moving there on Saturday.’

Ladybug opened her mouth to speak, about to beg him to stay, to tell him that she wouldn’t be able to find a better partner than him, but that’s when, finally, everything clicked. Adrien was Chat Noir. How had she not seen it sooner? The magic of the miraculouses stopped anyone from identifying the superheroes’ civilian forms, but as Ladybug stared at Chat Noir, with his blond hair and green eyes, she could see as plain as day that her best friend was Adrien Agreste; the love of her life. It all made sense. Sure, she had to run off numerous times herself to transform into Ladybug, but she had seen Adrien leaving the scene of an akuma attack quickly, too, especially when it happened at school. And his leaving France made sense, too. Adrien, without being Chat Noir, could maybe handle his father’s villainy, but knowing that for four years his own father had been fighting him and trying to defeat him, that must have torn Adrien’s heart in two. He really did need to leave the country.

But maybe Tikki was right. Maybe a long-distance relationship could work. Marinette was in love Adrien, and Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug. Marinette had doubted that his feelings were sincere at first, what with the constant flirting and puns, but she knew that was no longer the case. Chat Noir really did love her. And all this time, she had been able to see both sides of Adrien. The shy and reserved side, and the funny outgoing side, and without knowing it, Marinette had fallen in love with Chat Noir, too. She smiled, despite the bad news she’d just received, and a plan began to form in her head as to how she would confess to Adrien and reveal her identity at the same time.

Chat turned to her then and Ladybug let the smile drop from her face.

‘There’s something else, too,’ he said.

‘Go on.’

He reached down and took Ladybug’s hands in his. ‘My Lady, I have loved you from the moment we first met. I don’t know how else I can convince you that my feelings are true other than with my words, but I love you, Bugaboo.’

Ladybug closed her eyes and squeezed Chat Noir’s hands. She wanted to just open her mouth and tell Chat that she knew who he was and yes, she loved him, too. But, no. Not like this. She had a better idea. ‘Chat, I know your feelings are true, and I’m sorry if you ever thought that I didn’t believe you, but… there’s someone else who holds my heart.’

Chat’s hands slipped away and he turned back to looking at the skyline. ‘I understand.’

There was a moment of silence between them and Ladybug bit her lip. Was that the right thing to say? Shouldn’t she just say it’s a boy named Adrien and watch the realisation dawn on his face? She took a different approach instead. ‘Will you be going to say goodbye to your princess?’

‘Yeah. I was thinking of going on Wednesday. I’ve already told too many people who mean a lot to me today. I don’t think I can handle anyone else at the moment.’

‘I’m sure Marinette will understand. Anyway, I’ve got to go. Got a few things to do. I’ll see you next week for our next patrol!’

‘Hey! Wait!’

Ladybug hopped off the roof of the Galeries and was gone before Chat could even shout to her again. He watched her go, then with a sigh, then he detransformed, still sat on the roof.

Plagg flew out of his ring and frowned at Adrien. ‘I know that I call you an idiot a lot of the time, and I don’t usually mean it, however, detransforming whilst still on a roof isn’t usually the most sensible idea. Did you even bring any cheese with you?’

Adrien took a slice of Camembert out of his shirt pocket and handed it to the kwami, who munched on it happily. ‘She didn’t even give me Master Fu’s address. And I know she doesn’t like me back, but she could have at least given me a hug or something. I’m moving to a different country. I guess this shows just how much she valued me as a partner after all.’ The blond model shook his head. ‘At least I can get over her now and focus on Marinette,’ he said with a chuckle, but he knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as that. Ladybug had broken his heart.

…

On Wednesday, Marinette was pacing in her bedroom, quadruple checking that everything was ready. Her parents were out on a date, the bakery was closed, and she had Adrien’s leaving present ready: it was a picture of the two of them dancing at Chloe’s party months and months ago. Nothing could go wrong. This was the most important moment of her life.

Tikki bit her lip as she watched Marinette. ‘Everything will be okay,’ she said with an enthusiastic smile, trying to reassure her wearer. ‘You’ve planned everything down to a T.’

‘I know it’ll run smoothly, but that’s not what I’m worried about. What if, when I reveal that I’m Ladybug to Adrien, he’s disappointed? The only real traits I share with Ladybug when I’m out of the costume are kindness and my willingness to help other people. As myself, I’m so clumsy and not at all brave. And I’m definitely not a leader like Ladybug.’

With a shake of her red head, Tikki flew over to Marinette. ‘But you are exactly like Ladybug, the same way Adrien is exactly like Chat Noir. I don’t think you’ve noticed, Marinette, but ever since you became Ladybug, you’ve been trying hard to make you and your alter-ego are two completely separate people, and Adrien has done the same, in order to stop people from finding out who you are. The only real difference between you and Ladybug is how clumsy you are. Everything that France thinks Ladybug is, you are, too.’

Marinette smiled fondly at her kwami. ‘Thanks, Tikki.’

There was a knock on the skylight and Tikki quickly darted under Marinette’s bed as the teenager went to open the window. Chat Noir dropped into her bedroom a moment later and immediately, Marinette’s heart began to speed up from just looking at him. Her best friend, her partner, the man she trusted most in the whole world, had been sitting in front of her in class for the past four years, and Marinette didn’t even know. She was so lucky to have found him.

‘Hey, Chat.’

‘Hi, Princess,’ he said, his voice lacking its usual mirth.

‘What’s wrong? Here, sit on the chaise.’

Chat sighed as he sat down. ‘I have some bad news. I’m moving away. It’s only for a year, but I had to tell you. I’ll miss you, princess.’

Marinette managed to pull off a weak smile, holding back her grin. ‘I already knew, Chat.’

‘What? How?’

‘Ladybug came to tell me on Saturday night, after you patrolled with her. And I know you probably wanted to tell me first, but I’m glad she did, so I could get you this.’

Chat’s face lit up beneath his leather mask and ears. ‘My princess got me a present? You really are purr-fect, Marinette.’

Marinette smiled as she grabbed the wrapped present with shaking hands. ‘I hope you like it,’ she said as she handed it to Chat Noir.

He accepted it, and with a grin, tore off the wrapping paper, but that’s when the grin left his lips. It was a framed photo. Of Marinette. Dancing. With his civilian self. Did Marinette know? She couldn’t. He’d been so careful. He placed the frame down on the chaise and slowly looked up. ‘Mari… how…’ He had no words. She had to know. There was no other explanation for this present.

Without saying a word, Marinette smiled and took a step away from him. ‘Tikki,’ she called, and a black and red kwami flew out from under her bed, ‘spots on!’

There was a flash of pink light, and then, stood before him, was Ladybug. No. It was Marinette. As Ladybug. All this time. She had been right here, under his nose. And he’d never even realised.

‘You’re… my lady?’ he stuttered, completely astounded, but it all made sense. Marinette was like Ladybug in every single way. He’d been a fool to not notice it sooner.

Marinette smiled. ‘Since the moment you met Ladybug, you’ve been in love with her. And since the moment I met Adrien Agreste, I’d been in love with him.’

‘All this time…’ Adrien said, feeling the first tear fall down his face. ‘Why didn’t you say anything, Mari?’

‘It was too risky. But I wish I’d told you sooner, so we could have had more time together.’

Adrien shook his head, furiously wiping away his tears. ‘I’m not going to Switzerland. I’m staying here. I can’t be without you for a moment longer, princess.’

‘No, no, no.’ Marinette stepped towards Adrien, cupping his face in her hands, wiping away the tears that continued to fall. ‘That isn’t why I did this. For the sake of your mental health, you need to go to Switzerland. But I’ll visit and we’ll Skype and text and we will make this work, I promise. But you need to go to Switzerland. And when you come back, we’ll go to university together and walk up and down the banks of the Seine holding hands and be disgustingly cute and all couple-y, yeah?’

Adrien smiled, his tears finally stopping. ‘I love you, Bugaboo.’

‘I love you, too, Adrien.’

Hearing his name come from her lips was too much, and he leant in and kissed his lady. Four whole years he’d waited for this moment, imagined it over and over again in his head, rehearsed what he might do or say, but none of that prepared him for this. He was kissing Ladybug, kissing Marinette, and god, it felt so much better than any of his fantasies had prepared him for. Her lips were so sweet and soft and he had to pull away sooner than he wanted to because if he didn’t, he’d end up taking this much further than either of them were prepared for, and he would never do anything to hurt Marinette.

When he did pull away, though, Marinette was blushing under her mask and Adrien couldn’t help but smile. He had always thought she looked beautiful when she blushed, but all of those times had been out of embarrassment. She was blushing now because they had been kissing. He had made her blush for all of the right reasons.

‘Shall we transform back? As great as you look in red, these suits aren’t really comfortable to wander around in for fun.’

With a giggle from Marinette, the two teenage superheroes transformed back into their civilian selves, neither of them able to stop blushing or glancing at the other through their eyelashes.

Plagg flew up and sat on Adrien’s shoulder. ‘You two have just kissed and confessed your love and now you can’t even look at each other. I will never understand humans.’

Adrien smiled at his kwami. ‘Princess, this is my kwami, Plagg.’

‘Hi, Plagg.’

‘Do you have any cheese? More specifically, Camembert.’

Tikki rolled her eyes as she flew over to Adrien. ‘I see Plagg hasn’t changed,’ she said with a giggle.

‘He’s always been like this?’ Adrien asked, wondering how Plagg’s previous wearers had put up with him.

‘Yep. I’m Tikki. It’s nice to finally meet you! I’ve heard lots about you. And seen a lot of photos of you,’ the kwami said, gesturing to the numerous collages of Adrien that decorated Marinette’s bedroom walls.

‘Tikki!’

Adrien laughed. ‘I don’t mind, Marinette. It’s cute. I need to get my own collage going of you for my room in Switzerland.’

‘Then the photo I gave you can be your first addition.’

Plagg made a retching sound. ‘You two will give me cavities if you carry on like this.’

Tikki giggled and grabbed Plagg’s hand. ‘I’ll take him to the kitchen for some food.’

Marinette smiled in thanks and she gestured to her tablet. ‘Do you want to watch a movie or something?’

Adrien nodded and he set the framed photo on Marinette’s desk, then sat back on the chaise. Marinette sat next to his outstretched legs, unsure of what to do. Luckily, Adrien made the choice for her. He leant forwards, wrapped his arms around her waist, then pulled her to sit between his legs and against his chest.

‘Is this okay?’ he whispered, then pressed a kiss to Marinette’s temple.

‘It’s perfect.’

Marinette selected a random film on Netflix, but neither teenager was watching it. She was too busy revelling in the feel of Adrien cuddling her, and he was absentmindedly combing his fingers through Marinette’s silky hair. He wished he could this every day.

With a sigh, he leant forwards and rested his chin on Marinette’s shoulder. ‘I still wish I wasn’t leaving.’

‘Me, too. But you need to do this for yourself. Be selfish for once. You’ve looked after Paris for four years. You need to look after yourself now.’

‘I know, but I don’t want to leave you. I’ve only just got you.’

With a sad smile, Marinette kissed Adrien on the cheek. ‘We’ve still got two whole days to spend together before you leave, and even when you do, you are not forgetting about me, Agreste. I’ll bug you so much that it’ll be impossible.’

‘Did you just make a pun?’

Marinette rolled her eyes. ‘Oh my god, no. Never.’

‘Not even for me?’

‘Not even for you, kitty.’

Adrien chuckled and kissed Marinette’s temple again. ‘I’ll still miss you.’

‘Me, too. Do you want to… err… maybe… stay the night?’ she stuttered. ‘Not like that, just, you know, sleep.’

The blond combed his fingers through Marinette’s hair again. ‘As long as I get to cuddle my Bugaboo, I won’t leave this room until Saturday morning.’

…

Adrien did leave Marinette’s room on Thursday morning, but only for an hour to have a shower, get changed, and do some more packing, and then the two met up again, and they were practically inseparable from that moment onwards. They went to the cinema, rollerbladed around the almost empty Agreste Mansion, reminisced about Adrien’s mum, went to André’s for ice cream, and took a boat ride along the Seine.

They’d barely spent any time apart when Friday night rolled around, and they arrived at Le Grand Paris together, hand in hand, ready for Adrien’s leaving party.

He greeted all of his friends, giving them hugs and accepting their gifts, but his eyes never strayed far from Marinette. He’d had the most incredible two days and he didn’t want it to end. If he hadn’t been so stupid, he could have had this for the past four years. But he was finally with Marinette, his Ladybug, and he wasn’t ever letting go of her.

Once he’d greeted the last of his friends, he swiftly made his way back over to Marinette and pulled her out onto the dance floor, holding his girlfriend close to his chest as they moved together.

‘Are you enjoying your party?’ she asked.

Adrien smirked. ‘I’d be enjoying it more if it was just me and you, Bugaboo.’

He felt Marinette smile against his neck. ‘Later. You need to say goodbye to all of your friends properly, though. I know you, Chaton. You’d regret it if you didn’t.’

Why did she always have to be right? He danced with Marinette a little more, but as the party began to die down, he bade goodbye to each of his friends, until the only people left were him, Nino, Alya, and, of course, Marinette, who was waiting outside for them.

The aspiring journalist pulled him into a hug first. ‘Just, get better whilst you’re in Switzerland, okay? Make some new memories. But don’t forget about us, Agreste! And don’t hurt Marinette.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it, Alya.’

Nino was next, and it was obvious he was trying his best to hold back his tears as he hugged Adrien. ‘I’m going to miss you, bro.’

‘Me, too. Bro.’

Once he said that, Nino burst into tears and he buried himself in Alya’s arms.

The bespectacled girl sighed and did her best to comfort Nino. ‘Go and be with Marinette. I’ll handle Nino.’

‘Thanks, Alya.’ With a sad smile, he jogged out of the hotel and found Marinette waiting outside.

‘Hey. Where’s Alya and Nino?’

‘Ah,’ Adrien scratched the back of his neck. ‘Nino’s a bit upset, so Alya’s comforting him. I would have stayed, but they wanted me to spend time with you.’

Marinette smiled and tucked herself under Adrien’s arm. ‘Alya’s the best.’

‘Erm, excuse me, but aren’t I, your boyfriend, the best?’

‘I’d say you’re about fifth on the list.’

Adrien tutted in mock offence and the two walked idly through Paris until they arrived at the Agreste Mansion.

As soon as she saw it, Marinette felt nervous. Sure, she’d been there before, both as herself and as Ladybug, but this would be Adrien’s last night here, and she didn’t know if she could hold it together long enough for him to fall asleep.

They entered the mansion, and when they arrived at Adrien’s almost barren bedroom, Marinette went into the bathroom to get changed. As soon as she was ready, she turned to the mirror and tried to give herself a little pep talk, but not even that was working.

Tikki sighed from the coin purse that was now on the floor. ‘It’ll be okay, Marinette. You shared a bed on Wednesday night.’

‘It’s not that, Tikki. I don’t want him to go even though he needs to, and I’m afraid if I cry in front of him, he’ll change his mind. You know what he’s like. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself.’

The red kwami nuzzled her wearer’s cheek. ‘Adrien knows he has to go. Whatever happens, it’ll be okay, Marinette.’

She nodded and the two exited the bathroom. Adrien was in his pyjamas and already in bed, and Plagg was led on the sofa, eating some Camembert before he went to sleep. Tikki flew over to join her fellow kwami and Marinette wandered over to the bed.

Adrien pulled back the covers and opened his arms for Marinette and she didn’t hesitate to bury herself against his chest. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then he covered them with the sheets, wriggling them into a comfortable position on the mattress. ‘I’m going to miss cuddling you.’

‘I’ll miss it, too. Did you want to talk about tomorrow?’

Adrien shook his head. ‘No. Just let me hold you, princess.’

Marinette smiled and snuggled into Adrien’s arms.

After a long moment, the blond boy spoke. ‘You never did give me Master Fu’s address, you know.’

‘I know,’ she whispered, the urge to cry coming back full force now.

‘I guess, now that you know, I can just give you my ring tomorrow and you can return it.’

Marinette sat up then and turned away from Adrien, her tears rolling down her face now.

‘Bugaboo?’ he asked, reaching out to Marinette and placing a hand on her shoulder. ‘What’s wrong?’

She shook her head. ‘You’ll hate me.’

Adrien crawled to the edge of the bed and sat beside his girlfriend. ‘I promise I won’t. Please tell me, my lady.’

She refused to meet Adrien’s eyes as she spoke. ‘I don’t want to give the ring back because it’s _yours,_ Adrien. What if Master Fu gives it to someone else? I can’t fight crime with anyone but you. I’d rather you take it with you to Switzerland, then when you come back, you can be Chat Noir again.’

Adrien took Marinette’s hands in his. ‘You’d rather protect Paris on your own than me give up my miraculous? Mari, I can’t let you do that. It’ll be too dangerous. Just because there’s no Hawk Moth doesn’t mean there’s no crime in Paris.’

‘I’ll be fine, Adrien. Rena Rouge can help me if I need it. But no one else can be Chat Noir. Only you,’ she said, meeting his eyes now.

Adrien sighed and caressed Marinette’s cheek. ‘I guess, as long as Rena helps you, then it’s okay. And you won’t really need my cataclysm if there are no akumas. And someone needs to feed Plagg, so it may as well be me.’

Marinette smiled, her tears stopping now. ‘So, you’ll keep your miraculous?’

‘If it’ll make you this happy, then yes.’

She breathed out a sigh of relief. ‘I’m sorry, I just wanted something physical to connect you to me when you’re in Switzerland.’ Marinette’s finger traced over the silver ring. ‘Think of me when you look at this?’

‘I’ll think of you when I look at anything, Bugaboo.’

Marinette started to cry again, out of happiness this time, and Adrien kissed all of the tears away.

‘Come on, I can’t have my lady crying when we’re supposed to be cuddling.’

They got back into the bed, and as soon as they were under the covers, Adrien wrapped his arms back around his girlfriend.

…

Adrien woke up first the next morning, but instead of trying to fall back asleep or shaking Marinette awake, he took a few moments to admire her. It had only been two days, but already, he would miss holding her like this, miss seeing her face when he woke up, miss listening to her talk and laugh and god, he’d even miss the sound of her pen scrawling when she sat behind him in class. He’d miss the sweet smell of pastries that always clung to her and miss how kind and thoughtful she was and he’d even miss her clumsiness.

But it wouldn’t be like this forever. It was only a year. Well, not even that. He would move back to Paris before the start of the summer holiday so he could attend Marinette’s graduation, plus he had to come back periodically to look around universities, too. And he and Marinette had already worked out a schedule for when they would visit the other person, making sure to fit in their birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter when they were on their breaks from school. Things would work out. They had to. He wasn’t ever letting Marinette go.

He shifted her in his arms slightly so he could lean over her, and then he began to press small kisses all over Marinette’s face, waking her up slowly and sweetly.

‘Hey, princess,’ he whispered when she woke up, and Marinette smiled at him.

‘Hi, kitty. Are you ready for today?’

Adrien rolled his eyes. ‘I guess.’ He held Marinette tighter. ‘You should come with me.’

Marinette giggled, her voice a little deeper. ‘I wish. But Paris needs one of us to stay.’

Adrien nodded begrudgingly. ‘Come on, let’s get dressed. Your parents are bringing breakfast over and I don’t think they’d want to find us like this.’

With a smile, Marinette disappeared into the bathroom, Tikki following her.

Adrien got out of bed and wandered over to Plagg. ‘Hey, you like Marinette, right?’

‘Sure. She scratches me behind the ears and doesn’t complain about Camembert. Why wouldn’t I like her?’

Adrien smiled. ‘Just checking.’

When Marinette emerged from the bathroom, she frowned when she saw that Adrien had gone. ‘Where did he go?’ she asked.

‘Maybe he went to greet your parents?’ Tikki suggested, and the two left the empty room.

Sure enough, Adrien was downstairs, sat on the dining room floor, Tom and Sabine opposite him, all three of them munching on croissants and talking. The chatter stopped as soon as Marinette entered the room and her parents smiled up at her.

‘We brought your favourite jam,’ her dad said, his face tinged slightly red.

‘Thanks, dad,’ she said as she sat down next to Adrien. ‘Is there something wrong? Your face is kind of red.’

He spluttered on his takeaway coffee and Sabine rubbed his back. ‘We’re just fine, dear!’

Marinette narrowed her eyes at them. Why were they acting so oddly? She shook her head and ate her croissants, watching as the removal men took the last of the furniture out of the house. Just as they were carrying Adrien’s bed, the last piece of furniture, Nathalie came into the dining room.

‘Adrien, the removal men are ready to go. We shouldn’t keep them waiting.’

With a sigh, Adrien stood up. ‘Okay. I’ll be out in a moment.’

Nathalie nodded and left.

Adrien knelt down, about to clean up the paper bags that Tom and Sabine had brought the food in, but Sabine batted his hands away.

‘We’ll sort that, love. You need to get going. Marinette, go with him.’

‘Thanks, mum.’

All four of them stood up, Tom and Sabine exchanging hugs with Adrien, both adults whispering something into the teenager’s ear.

Marinette and Adrien left the dining room, and then the mansion, walking towards the road. The removal van was there, and in front of it was the car, Nathalie and the Gorilla already inside and waiting for Adrien.

He stopped short of leaving the mansion’s gates and he turned to Marinette, taking her hands in his. What was he supposed to say without making her cry?

Marinette smiled and spoke first. ‘Text me when you get to Switzerland, yeah?’

Adrien sighed, letting go of one of her hands so he could caress her cheek. ‘I’ll text you all the way there, my lady.’

‘Yeah.’ Marinette looked away from her boyfriend. ‘I’ll miss you,’ she whispered, feeling tears gathering in her eyes once more.

The blond boy pulled her into a hug. ‘Everything will be just fine, princess. You’re coming up in three weeks time for the weekend. Three weeks will be nothing. We’ll get through this year.’

Marinette nodded with a sniff. ‘I know. I just don’t know how I’ll cope not being able to see you every single day.’

‘What do you mean? My face is plastered all over your bedroom wall.’

Marinette tutted and pulled out of the hug. ‘And for that, you won’t get a goodbye kiss.’

‘Oh, come on. I know you love kissing me just as much as I do you,’ he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

‘Fine.’

Adrien smiled, then leant in and kissed Marinette. It felt even better than the first time. Her lips were still as soft and sweet as ever and they moved against each other carefully, as if they were afraid the other one would break.

Marinette pulled away first, leaving Adrien pouting.

‘That was too short for a goodbye kiss,’ he said.

‘If I carried on, you would never want to leave.’

He smirked. ‘True. Speaking of that… when I come back to look around universities, I need to go apartment hunting, too. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?’

Marinette nodded with a smile. ‘Of course, I’ll come with you. I don’t want you living in some grotty flat for university.’

‘I don’t want that for you either. That’s why… I already talked about it with your parents. That’s why they were acting so strangely. But when I return to Paris in the summer, after we graduate, I want you to move in with me.’

Marinette’s mouth fell open. ‘Adrien…’

‘I know, it’s crazy, we’ve only been together for two days, but we’ve been in love for longer than that. And after spending almost a year without you, when I come back, I don’t want to be without my lady for a moment longer.’

The tears in Marinette’s eyes began to fall onto her cheeks. ‘Yes, of course, you idiot, yes, I’ll move in with you.’

In his glee, Adrien wrapped his arms around Marinette’s waist and spun her around, then placed another kiss on her lips.

The horn sounded from the car and he reluctantly put Marinette down. ‘I’ll see you soon, okay?’

She could only nod as he leant in for a final kiss, and then he was gone, jogging towards the car and climbing in. He waved at her as the car drove off, the removal van following, but Marinette couldn’t bring herself to move. Did that seriously just happen? Did Adrien Agreste really just ask her to move in with him?

‘Tikki…’

‘Yes, Marinette?’ the kwami asked from the open coin purse.

‘Did Adrien just ask me to move in with him?’

Tikki giggled. ‘I believe he did. And you agreed.’

Marinette covered her burning face with her hands. Her final year at high school was probably going to be the loneliest, but that didn’t matter anymore. She would get to move in with her boyfriend as her graduation present, and for that, she could bear a year of high school without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette attends school - without Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! The story has been fully planned out! 
> 
> I've tried to incorporate everyone's ideas, but there was one I couldn't include - someone asked for the new villain to be the peacock lady but because of the way the broadcast for the episodes has been continued to be pushed back, it was hard to use it since I know nothing about her, so I'm super sorry about that.
> 
> There are also new tags for relationships, characters, and additional tags, so there will be smut in this story now! I will put warnings at the start of the chapters it's in, and there won't be loads of smut, but if it makes you uncomfortable, please don't read this story.
> 
> I have also gone back to the first chapter and added dates as I think it'll be nice to show how long they've been apart and how long they have to wait to be together again.
> 
> Also, where the dates are concerned, I've picked the 30th October for Adrien's birthday and the 21st May for Marinette's birthday. There are no official dates (that I could find) with their birthdays on, so I've just had to make an educated guess based on the origin episode and where the Valentine's day episode (Dark Cupid) falls since the Christmas episode was specifically created for the time of the year and didn't fall into the timeline of the rest of the show since it was broadcast after the Valentine's day episode. (In the show, Adrien's birthday is between the start of school in September and Valentine's day, and Marinette's is after Valentine's Day)
> 
> And finally, updates will be more regular now it's all planned out! I hope you enjoy my story! :* 
> 
> Lilac x

**Saturday 1 st September**

As soon as she returned to the bakery from the Agreste Mansion, Marinette curled up on her bed. She’d done her research: it took six hours to get from Paris to Bern by train, but by car it would be longer, and Adrien probably wouldn’t arrive at his new home until about six o’clock in the evening.

A text chimed in on Marinette’s phone:

_From: Adrien :*_

_Just leaving Paris now_ _L I’m already missing you loads, princess xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Marinette frowned at the message, wishing she’d taken a couple photo of her and Adrien to replace her phone wallpaper.

_To: Adrien :*_

_Miss you loads, too, kitty :/ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_From: Adrien :*_

_What are you going to do for the rest of the day?_

_To: Adrien :*_

_I don’t want to do anything without you._

A moment after sending the text, Marinette’s phone rang, Adrien’s name lighting up the screen. She answered it straight away with a small smile on her face. ‘Hey.’

‘Mari, you need to do something,’ Adrien said, his voice full of concern.

‘I know, I just… I can’t bear to. Everything I do reminds me of you.’

Adrien hummed, thinking for a moment. ‘Then why don’t you make something? You could wear it for when you visit me in three weeks.’

Marinette sat up, her phone still pressed to her ear. ‘What will we be doing in Bern?’

She could practically hear Adrien smile over the line. ‘When you arrive on Friday, I was thinking of cuddling. Then maybe some more cuddling on Saturday morning, and if I feel like letting you out of my arms for an hour or two, I’ll show you around Bern. Followed by more cuddling on Sunday morning before you leave. Does that sound good, my lady?’

Marinette grinned. ‘It sounds perfect, kitty. I’ve got to go now. I need to run to the haberdashery in town. Love you, Chaton.’

‘Love you, too, baby.’

She hung up with a giggle. Baby was a new nickname, but she definitely wasn’t complaining. She grabbed her coin purse and Tikki flew out just as she was putting it on.

‘Where are we going?’ the kwami asked.

‘The haberdashery. Adrien’s inspired me.’

Tikki smiled. ‘Did he say anything about Plagg?’

‘No. Why?’

The smile dropped. ‘Oh, it’s… nothing.’

Marinette smirked. ‘Are you and Plagg… together, Tikki?’

The kwami flew back into the purse, too embarrassed to answer, but Marinette fished her back out. ‘Hey, that’s not fair. You have to tell me now!’

Tikki sighed. ‘I guess we’re together? When we were younger and our wearers revealed their identities to each other, we met and spent a lot of time together then. When our last wearers revealed who they were to each other, Plagg told me he had feelings for me, and I kissed him, but then our wearers gave up their miraculouses. That was two hundred years ago, though. What if he no longer feels the same?’

Marinette lifted Tikki up so their eyes met. ‘Do you feel the same about him?’

The kwami nodded.

‘Then I’m sure Plagg does, too. You can ask him in three weeks. But don’t worry about it for now. You can come to the haberdashery with me.’

‘What are you going to make?’ Tikki asked as she zoomed back into the coin purse.

‘You’ll see.’

…

Just as Marinette was embroidering something onto the fabric of her handmade garment, her computer beeped with the Skype connection sound. With a wide smile, Marinette rolled her chair from her sewing machine to her study desk, accepting the call without even looking at who it was. A moment later, Adrien’s face was filling her screen, managing to look melancholy and happy at the same time.

‘Hey, princess.’

The sound quality wasn’t that great, but the combination of seeing his face and hearing his voice made her sob.

His eyes widened and he reached out, as if to comfort her, only to retract it when he realised he couldn’t touch her. ‘Please, don’t cry, Mari. Not when I’m not there to stop your tears.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, wiping away the few sneaky tears that had managed to escape. ‘I’ll be fine in a minute. Have you just arrived?’ she asked as she took in the background of the Skype call. Adrien seemed to be sat on the floor in an empty room and there was some background noise that sounded like Nathalie directing the delivery men.

‘Yeah. I set up our Wi-Fi, then I skyped you.’

Marinette managed to splutter out a laugh. ‘You should be helping them unpack.’

‘I know, but I said I’d Skype you as soon as we arrived,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I’ll make it up to them later. Did you manage to make something?’

‘Yep.’

‘Can I see?’

‘Nope.’

Adrien pouted. ‘Come on, Mari!’

‘No, it’s going to be a surprise.’

The blond boy fondly rolled his eyes at his girlfriend. ‘Fine.’

‘Aw, is the little kitty annoyed?’

‘Hey, I’m taller _and_ stronger than you.’

‘Hm, I might be stronger than you eventually. You’ll get out of the habit of being Chat Noir.’

Adrien bit his lip. ‘I was actually thinking of being Chat Noir whilst I’m in Switzerland. I would patrol maybe once a week and help anyone I see who needs it. What do you think?’

Marinette smiled at her boyfriend. ‘It’s a wonderful idea, Adrien.’

He grinned, as if in relief. ‘I was worried you were going to tell me not to do it. I really love being Chat and saving people. Thank you for making me keep my miraculous.’

‘You’re welcome, even though my reasoning was basically entirely selfish.’

Adrien laughed. ‘It’s fine. I wouldn’t want to see you with some other guy dressing up in a skin-tight leather costume who flirted with you all the time.’

Marinette smirked. ‘Don’t you think it’s odd to insult yourself whilst trying to be protective over me?’

‘I’m not _that_ protective over you,’ he grumbled. ‘I just don’t want someone trying to take you away whilst I’m gone.’

Marinette looked down at the desk. ‘That won’t ever happen. I love you too much to even look at another guy. Do you not trust me?’

‘No, no, please don’t think that. I trust you with my life, Marinette, but I know what other guys are like. I don’t want some other guy trying to hurt you.’

She nodded and looked back up at the screen, feeling herself tear up again because of how concerned and sad Adrien looked. ‘It’s okay, I understand. But no one can replace you, Adrien.’

He flashed her a small smile. ‘How are you feeling about school on Monday?’

Marinette shrugged. It was Saturday night, so she still had a full day to prepare, both physically and mentally. But she wasn’t sure how she’d feel when Monday morning rolled around and Adrien wouldn’t be sat in front of her in class anymore. ‘I don’t know. What if I just start crying when I see your empty seat?’

‘Then you leave class and ring me. I’ll answer. I’ll sit by my phone all day. If you don’t need me, that’s fine, but if you do, I’ll be there for you, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Marinette said with a smile. She opened her mouth, about to ask how Adrien was feeling for his first day of school on Tuesday, but she was cut off when her mum shouted that dinner was ready. ‘I have to go. We’ll talk later, yeah? You should help Nathalie and the Gorilla.’

Adrien smirked. ‘I will. Love you, princess.’

‘Love you, too, Chaton.’

…

**Monday 3 rd September**

Marinette ambled down the stairs of the bakery, her hands wringing together. She felt absolutely awful. This wasn’t how she envisioned her first day of her final year at high school would go. She had wanted it to be happy, being able to see all of her friends as she walked through the door of her classroom. Instead, she just felt sick.

Her and Adrien had talked last night and she’d put up a front, pretending that she was okay, but she was far from it. She’d already decided that if she got upset today, she wouldn’t ring him. She had to work out a way to survive without him. He started school tomorrow and wouldn’t be able to leave class to console his sobbing girlfriend after today.

Marinette sighed as she stood in the hallway. Could she really do this today? Maybe she should just go back to bed.

‘Marinette?’

She looked up and saw her mum coming through from the bakery with a sad smile on her face. ‘How are you feeling, dear?’

‘Terrible.’

Sabine frowned and pulled her daughter into a hug then handed her a pastry. ‘Here, I brought you a pain au chocolat. I know it won’t make Adrien being gone any better, but it might take your mind off things.’

‘Thanks, mum.’

‘Alya’s here. And Nino. They’re here to walk with you to school.’

Marinette nodded and followed her mum into the bakery. Alya and Nino hadn’t arranged this with her, so Marinette presumed Adrien had asked them to do this. Which was fine, he was just trying to look out for her. But she’d rather be alone right now.

Alya and Nino were stood by the door, their arms around each other and big smiles on their faces. Marinette felt a pang in her chest. She so wanted that to be her and Adrien right now. She took her phone out of the pocket and had a quick peek at her wallpaper of her boyfriend, along with the countdown she’d set. Three weeks. It wasn’t that long. Three weeks, and they would be together again.

She put her phone back, then strode over to Alya and Nino, who both turned their bright smiles on her when they saw her approaching.

‘Mari!’

They both gave her a hug, then Alya proceeded to rub a hand up and down Marinette’s arm. ‘How are you?’

‘No offence, Alya, but I’d be much better if everyone stopped asking me that.’

‘Yeah, sorry. Come on, let’s go to school, girl.’

The three of them left the bakery but Marinette trailed behind them as they crossed the road to school. Alya and Nino were in front, holding hands, completely in a world of their own. The only thing Marinette had right now was the empty Agreste Mansion down the street on her left, but looking at right now would only break her heart more than it already was.

She followed them into the school, not even looking up as she sat down in her seat. Adrien wasn’t going to be in front of her, so why should she bother?

She stared down at her desk, trying to tune out the sweet things Alya and Nino were saying to each other, but she looked up when Chloe shrieked.

‘Where’s Adrikins?!’

Everyone turned to her, confused. Hadn’t she been at the party? It was at her hotel, after all.

‘Erm, Chloe?’ Alya asked with narrowed eyes. ‘You do realise he’s moved to Switzerland, right?’

‘W-what?’ Chloe looked completely distraught. She really had no idea.

‘Dude, we had a leaving party for him at your hotel. We invited you. We thought you knew.’

Chloe slumped down in her seat, devastated. ‘How could he not tell me?! I’m his girlfriend!’

The whole class was silent for a moment, and then Alix spoke. ‘Yeah, you’re not his girlfriend, Chloe.’

The blond girl stood up and stomped her foot, about to shout, but then Mlle Bustier came into the classroom, holding a massive bouquet of white dittany and baby’s breath.

‘Good morning, class!’ she said, her cheery disposition not having changed over summer. ‘I hope you all had a good break! Now, as I’m sure you all know, Adrien will not be joining us for our final year together-’

Chloe sobbed.

‘-but he’ll always be a part of our class. Before we get started, though…’ Mlle Bustier trailed off as she looked over her students, smiling when she saw Marinette. ‘Ah, Marinette, these are for you. They were delivered to the school this morning.’

‘Er, thank you?’

Mlle Bustier handed her the flowers and Marinette looked at them in confusion. Who on earth was sending her flowers at school?

‘Is there a card with it?’ Alya asked, looking at the bouquet in awe.

‘Uh…’ Marinette turned the bouquet around and found a small card attached to the side. She opened it without even thinking and she was unable to stop the gasp that escaped her mouth as she read what it said.

_My Princess,_

_Have a good first day at school. I know it’ll be hard without me – it’s going to be hard for me going to a new school without you by my side, too – but we’ll get through it, together, even if we’re not really together._

_A year will fly by so quickly, I promise it will. We’ll be back together before you know it._

_I love you, my Lady._

_Chaton xxx_

She held in her whimpers and looked over at Alya. The other girl was scanning the contents of the card and she looked up at Marinette when she was done, her face in complete awe, but it lapsed slightly when she saw the tears in her best friend’s eyes. ‘Miss Bustier, can Marinette go to the toilet to calm down?’

‘Of course.’

Shaking, Marinette stood from her seat and walked to the door of the classroom, ignoring how Nino announced the flowers were from Adrien and Chloe’s ensuing screech. She broke into a run then and ran through the empty halls until she got to the girl’s bathroom.

She slammed a cubicle door shut behind her, then grabbed her phone from her pocket and called Adrien. She knew she told herself that she wasn’t going to ring him today, but she had to now. She couldn’t go back to class without hearing his voice.

He picked up straight away, a smile in his voice. ‘Princess! How-’ He stopped when he heard his girlfriend crying. ‘Marinette? What’s wrong? Is it really that bad without me?’

Marinette sniffed as she tried to stop crying. ‘I just got the flowers.’

‘Oh, princess, those were supposed to make you smile and make today a little more bearable. They weren’t meant to make you cry. I’m so sorry.’

‘No, it’s… I love the flowers. They’re beautiful, thank you. But reading that card just made me realise how long I’m going to have to be without you.’

‘We’ll get through it, okay? I know we will. We were made to be together, Marinette. Ladybug and Chat Noir, good luck and bad luck. Master Fu chose us for a reason, and it wasn’t just because we’re good people. It’s because he knew that we were meant to be together. We will get through this, yeah?’

Marinette wiped her eyes and managed a smile, even though Adrien couldn’t see it. ‘Yeah.’ Even when he wasn’t here, he always managed to make her feel so indescribably happy. They really were meant for each other. ‘I need to get back to class.’

‘It’s okay. Go back to class. Skype me when you get home, yeah?’

‘I will. Bye, Chaton.’

‘Bye, Bugaboo.’

Marinette hung up and held her phone to her chest as she smiled. They _had_ been made for each other. Adrien had practically called them soul mates.

Tikki opened the coin purse and smiled up at her wearer. ‘Adrien’s right, you know. Everyone else who has worn your miraculouses ended up together eventually. Master Fu knew it, too.’

‘I know now. Thank you, Tikki.’

The kwami giggled and ducked back into the purse, closing it behind her.

Marinette came out of the cubicle and stared at herself in the mirror. Her face was red and blotchy from crying. She splashed some water onto it, then walked back to class, feeling less shaky.

As she entered the room, Chloe’s head immediately turned and the blonde glared at her, her sharp blue eyes following her all the way back to her seat.

Marinette did her best to ignore her and she sat back down, the flowers still on her desk.

Alya leant over with a small smile. ‘Did you ring him?’ she whispered.

Marinette nodded. ‘Yeah. He’s the best.’

Alya held in her squeal and both girls faced the front to listen to Mlle Bustier.

For the rest of the day, Marinette’s attention was only half on her teachers. She couldn’t help but think of Adrien every time she saw the flowers or Adrien’s empty set in front of her. But it didn’t make her cry this time. She imagined what it would have been like if he had been here. Would he have turned around every so often just to look at her, slip her notes or secret texts, maybe stretch his arm back and hold her hand? And maybe Tikki would have snuck back into Adrien’s bag to spend some time with Plagg. She smiled to herself as Mme Mendeleiev rambled on about rates of reaction. Their reunion in three weeks was going to be amazing.

The bell went for the end of the day and Marinette grabbed her bag and flowers, said a quick goodbye to Alya and Nino before she got out of her seat, but as she made her way to the front of the class, Chloe stood up.

The blonde girl was still glaring at her, but it looked a lot more threatening this close up. ‘Dupain-Cheng. Is Adrien your boyfriend?’

‘Yes.’

Chloe spent another moment glaring at her before the other girl grabbed her bag, then ran from the classroom.

Marinette bit her lip and turned to Alya and Nino. ‘What am I supposed to do about that?’

The couple shrugged and Marinette left the classroom herself. There was no sign of Chloe in the corridor or downstairs in the courtyard. What was wrong with her? Did she seriously believe that she and Adrien had been dating all this time?

Marinette frowned and left the school, walking the short distance home. Should she mention Chloe to Adrien? They had grown up together. He’d want to know.

The bell above the bakery door rang as Marinette stepped inside and her father looked up with a bright smile.

‘Mari! Did you have a good first day?’

‘It was okay. Adrien sent me flowers.’

Her dad clocked the beautiful bouquet in her hands and his eyes filled with tears. ‘I was kind of hoping Adrien would turn out to be an idiot so you wouldn’t move out after high school.’

Marinette giggled and leant over the counter to give her dad a kiss on the cheek. ‘Adrien’s wonderful, dad. You don’t need to be protective over me.’

Her dad sniffed and kissed her back, handing her a cupcake. ‘Go on, go and do your homework before I decide to lock you in the attic.’

They shared a smile before Marinette went through into the back and all the way upstairs until she reached her bedroom on the top floor. She switched her computer on straight away and whilst she waited for it to boot up, she put her school bag away and arranged the flowers in a vase on her bedside table.

Tikki came out of her purse and went to inspect the flowers, and Marinette called Adrien on Skype. She spun around on her desk chair as she waited for him to answer, but after three minutes, he still hadn’t. Maybe his Wi-Fi wasn’t working? Or he’d gone to get something to eat?

She frowned and waited another two minutes, but just as she was about to disconnect, Adrien answered the call.

‘Finally. Thought you’d died or something.’

Adrien smiled. ‘Very funny, my Lady. Sorry about not picking up straight away, Chloe rang me. What on earth happened in class?’

Marinette sighed. ‘I’m not really sure. She wanted to know where you were so we told her and she said you were her boyfriend and she would have known about you going to Switzerland, and then Miss Bustier gave me the flowers. She pretty much didn’t say anything else for the rest of the day until about ten minutes ago. She asked if you were my boyfriend, then she ran off. Is she okay?’ she asked, biting her lip. She usually wouldn’t be so concerned about Chloe, but the way she was acting was odd.

‘Yeah, I guess she’s okay. I did tell her I was moving to Bern, but because of stuff she’s had with her family, she just blocks out bad news until she’s confronted with it physically, like when I didn’t turn up to school today.’

‘I understand that, but why did she think you were her boyfriend?’

Adrien shrugged. ‘I honestly have no idea. I know she had a crush on me, but I didn’t ever take it seriously. She’s like a sister to me. It’s really odd. Maybe there’s something going on with her parents? I don’t know. She wouldn’t say.’

‘I’d say I’d talk to her in person, but I don’t think she even wants to look at me right now.’

‘Yeah, you’re right. Anyway, were the flowers a nice gift?’

Marinette’s face brightened up with a smile. ‘They’re so lovely, Adrien. But they must have been expensive.’

Adrien just grinned. ‘They were. But if I can’t be with my princess, then I want to thoroughly spoil her.’

She shook her head with a laugh. ‘Just don’t do it too often. You’ll make me feel bad.’

‘I won’t then. How was school without me?’

Marinette sighed and propped her face up in the palm of one of her hands. ‘Only just bearable.’

Adrien nodded. ‘Today’s been awful without you, too, and I haven’t even been to school yet. I’m dreading tomorrow.’

‘You’ll be okay. I know first days can be tricky, but it’ll be great. I wish I could say I’ll be able to answer my phone all day, in case you need me, like you did for me today, but I can’t. But Plagg will be with you, and we’ll talk as soon as our school’s get out.’

The blond boy’s smile got even wider. ‘I love you, you know that, right?’

‘Of course, kitty. I love you, too.’

‘Since you love me so much…’ Adrien trailed off with a smirk.

‘What do you want?’

‘Don’t make fun of me, but can you help me figure out how to use my washing machine? Nathalie’s out right now and the Gorilla has no idea, and I’ve never had to do my own washing before.’

Marinette stared at her boyfriend for a solid minute before she burst out laughing.

‘Hey! I said not to make fun of me!’

‘I’m sorry, I’ll help. I just can’t believe you’ve never used one before. Take your laptop to the washing machine and I’ll take a look at it.’ She laughed again as the picture went wobbly as Adrien moved. This was so… domestic. Was that the right word for it? Whatever the right word was, it made her feel warm inside. She couldn’t wait to move in with Adrien and experience this every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Adrien's first day at his new school.

**Tuesday 4 th September**

Adrien took a deep breath as he stared at himself in the mirror. He could do this. It was just a school. He’d gone to Dupont on that first day, completely confident, albeit, that had been under different circumstances. He had been desperate to escape his father and the Agreste Mansion. Now, he’d give anything to be stuck back in that house if it meant he could be closer to Marinette.

He smiled as he thought of his girlfriend. If Marinette could go to school without him yesterday, then he could do it without her today. But she didn’t move house. Or start attending a new school. And she had friends there.

‘Don’t even start with that train of thought,’ Plagg said as he flew out of Adrien’s shirt pocket. ‘Marinette had it just as hard as you. She’s more vulnerable than you think.’

Adrien smiled at the kwami. ‘You really like her, don’t you.’

‘Yep. You better not break up with her.’

‘I think I want to marry her.’

Plagg spluttered on thin air. ‘Calm down, I didn’t say you had to marry the girl! You’ve only been in a relationship with her for a week.’

Adrien chuckled. It had been less than a week, in fact, but he had been in love with Ladybug for two years now. Getting married to Marinette after pining and waiting all that time didn’t really seem to be that much of an outrageous idea to the blond model. ‘You only like her because she has Tikki.’

Plagg blushed. ‘That’s not true!’

‘It definitely is. You have no idea how many times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and heard you muttering her name. Can kwamis get married?’

‘I guess? I haven’t discussed it with Master Fu… not that I’ve been thinking about it!’

‘Oh, that reminds me. I need to speak to Master Fu after we get back from school. Make sure I don’t forget, will you?’

‘Only if you stop bringing up Tikki…’

Adrien smirked as he adjusted his shirt. ‘It’s a shame kwamis can’t be photographed. Maybe I should ask Marinette to make you a life-sized plushie of Tikki.’

Plagg zoomed up so he was level with Adrien’s green eyes. ‘Really?! Do you think she’d do that for me?!’

‘Whoa, if it’ll make you that happy, I‘m sure she’d do it. Come on, time for school.’

The cat kwami hid back inside Adrien’s shirt pocket, and then the blond grabbed his school bag from his bed. His new room was smaller than at the Agreste Mansion, but he liked it. His double bed was in the centre, the settee at the foot of it. Bookcases lined the walls, just like they had done in Paris, and his three-screen computer set up was by the window.

‘Adrien!’ Nathalie shouted up the stairs. ‘It’s time to go!’

‘I’m coming!’ He slipped on his trainers, then grabbed his phone from his desk. The screen was on, a notification from Marinette lighting it up:

_From: Bugaboo_ _♥_ _‿_ _♥_

_Good luck today! I’ll talk to you after school! :*_

Adrien couldn’t help the smile that came over his face. He slid his phone into his bag, then jogged downstairs.

Nathalie was waiting in the hall and she smiled when she saw her ward. ‘Are you ready for today?’

‘I guess. It would be easier if Marinette were here.’

‘I’ll be travelling back to Paris today to oversee your father’s fashion house. Would you like me to make enquiries into Miss Dupain-Cheng’s wellbeing?’

‘That would be great, thanks. But you don’t need to be so formal. You’re my guardian now, not my father’s assistant.’

Nathalie nodded. ‘I know. I’m sorry. I’ve never had a child before. Not that I’m trying to replace either of your parents,’ she said, hurrying to correct herself.

‘It’s okay, I know you’re not.’

She smiled at him. ‘I will go to the bakery before I leave Paris to check up on Marinette then.’

Adrien returned her smile. ‘Thank you. I’ll see you when you get back tomorrow.’ He descended the rest of the stairs, down the hall and out of the house.

The Gorilla was waiting in the car, the engine already running. It was a plain silver four by four. They’d sold the limo before coming to Switzerland. At least, this way, when the Gorilla dropped him off, it could be passed off as a protective parent rather than his chauffeur.

Adrien climbed into the backseat of the car and the Gorilla immediately set off, but Adrien didn’t watch his surroundings pass by. He got his phone out and stared at his wallpaper. It was a picture of Ladybug that Alya had managed to snap before Marinette had detransformed. She was in mid-jump, her yo-yo wrapped around a lamppost. He couldn’t remember what akuma battle it had been from, but she looked beautiful.

The car came to a stop and the Gorilla grunted.

Adrien looked up and saw they were parked across the road from his new school. He’d seen it in brochures before, he’d been the one to pick it. It wasn’t big or domineering or hanging over him like a dark shadow. It was nice. But it wasn’t Dupont.

He didn’t want to go in. But he had to.

With a sigh, he got out of the car, crossed the road, and entered the school. The corridors were busy, and the students were chatting in a mixture of French and German, but no one seemed to be glancing his way. They didn’t know who he was. French teenage model with one parent dead and the other serving life in prison. No one had any idea and he planned to keep it that way.

He continued on down the corridor, trying to take deep breaths as he headed to room 28. He’d been emailed his timetable over the weekend and knew where he was supposed to go, but when he arrived at the room, he stood outside of it. He was so nervous now that he had arrived. His first day at Dupont had been so different. He hadn’t felt anxious at all, but he hadn’t been Chat Noir then. He didn’t know his father was Hawk Moth. He had didn’t have someone as wonderful as Marinette loving him.

As the corridors emptied, he took in a few deep breaths and thought about his girlfriend. What would she be doing right now? She’d probably be sat in class next to Alya, waiting for Mlle Bustier to arrive. Adrien smirked. She more than likely was actually in bed with Tikki tugging at her earlobe, attempting to wake the sleeping beauty up.

‘Can I help you?’

Adrien looked up and in front of him stood a woman, in her mid-thirties, not looking at all that dissimilar to Nathalie.

‘Hi, my name’s Adrien Agreste. It’s my first day here. I was told that I should come to this room.’

The woman smiled. ‘Ah! Yes, I was told you’d be arriving today. My name is Miss Bracker. I’ll be your maths teacher for this year. I’ll introduce you to your class.’

They both smiled at each other and Adrien followed her into the classroom. She seemed nice enough. He would at least be able to survive maths class.

The chattering in the class died down when Adrien entered with Mlle Bracken. She greeted her class and Adrien took a moment to glance around the room. It was similar to Dupont: stairs in the middle, desks on either side. There were slightly more students in this class than in his class in Pairs, but they looked just as friendly. But there was a noticeable absence of all of his friends. And Marinette.

‘Okay,’ Mlle Bracker said, ‘so, before today’s class commences, I’d like to introduce you to Adrien. He’s moved to Bern from Paris and he’ll be joining you all for your final year. Adrien, why don’t you take that spare seat at the back?’

He nodded and ascended the stairs, heading to the seat Mlle Bracker had motioned to. Sat next to the spare seat was a boy. He had short black hair and he had one earbud in. He reminded Adrien of Nino slightly.

‘Hey,’ the boy greeted. ‘I’m Noah. Nice to meet you.’

‘You, too.’

‘Nervous?’

Adrien nodded and Noah chuckled. ‘You don’t need to be. You’ll be friends with everyone soon.’

They shared a smile and Mlle Bracker began handing out letters to each member of the class. ‘Mrs Reichlin, your cultural studies teacher, will be taking you on a school trip at the start of October. You need to take these home and get your parents to sign the permission slip.’

The letter landed on Adrien’s desk and he stared down at it.

_… I, the parent/guardian, give permission for my child to go on this trip…_

He felt tears prick at his eyes. He knew Nathalie could sign it. It’s not like he had no one who could do it. But his father wouldn’t sign anything for him ever again. It was stupid, such a small insignificant thing, yet it was bringing tears to his eyes. He tried his best to blink them away. He thought he was over this. He’d all summer, plus the end of the previous school year, to get over what his father had done. Why was it upsetting him now?

…

Adrien pretty much collapsed face first into his bed when he got home. The day hadn’t been particularly hard or strenuous physically, but it had taken a tax on him mentally.

He stayed still as he felt Plagg come out of his pocket. ‘Kid, it’ll be okay. Tomorrow will be better.’

The blond boy nodded. He knew Plagg was right. But right now, he just wanted to talk to Marinette.

As if on cue, his computer beeped with the connection sound of Skype and he practically leapt off the bed to answer the call. A moment later, Marinette’s beautiful face filled the screen and Adrien couldn’t help but smile.

‘There’s my princess.’

Marinette returned the smile, but then she frowned. ‘You look exhausted.’

‘Yeah, it was a hard day. Not that anyone was rude to me or anything. My class is pretty nice. But I may have unintentionally upset myself.’

She got even more concerned. ‘What happened?’

‘One of my teachers handed out letters for a school trip. And our parents have to sign the permission slip for us to go.’

Marinette’s mouth fell open slightly. ‘Oh, Adrien…’

‘It’s not that big of a deal. Nathalie can sign it.’

‘That’s not the point. As kind and caring Nathalie is, she will never be your mum or dad.’ Marinette paused and bit her lip. ‘Do you ever want to see him again? You know, visit him in jail?’

Adrien shook his head without a moment’s hesitation. ‘No. Never. Not after what he did to you. If it was just me, maybe. But not you. I could never forgive him for trying to hurt you. If I were to see him again… I think I’d try to punch him.’

Marinette nodded. ‘It’s okay. I understand. But apart from that, was the rest of the day good?’

‘Yeah, not bad. Not quite as exciting as my first day at Dupont. I talked to most people in my class. And the guy I sit next to is nice. He’s called Noah. He kind of reminds me of Nino. Oh, that reminds me. Could you maybe make, if you have time, a to-scale plushie of Tikki?’

Marinette narrowed her eyes. ‘Why?’

‘Plagg has a massive crush on her and he misses her like crazy.’

She burst into giggles and Adrien smiled at the sound of her laugh. It was so pretty.

‘Tikki likes Plagg, too. I’ll make plushies for both of them for when they’re apart.’

The couple continued to chat for half an hour until Marinette finally had to end the call to do her homework at her mum’s request.

‘We could do it together,’ Adrien suggested with a pout, but that only made Marinette laugh even more.

‘You’d distract me.’

‘Fair enough. I didn’t get any homework today. Call me again when you’re done?’

Marinette nodded with a smile, then ended the call. Adrien sighed as he watched her face leave his screen. Her visit in three weeks couldn’t come soon enough.

He pushed away from his desk and grabbed his phone from his school bag: he still needed to talk to Master Fu and the Guardian didn’t know how to use Skype. Adrien selected his contact in his phone, and after four rings, Master Fu finally picked up.

‘Adrien. How’s Switzerland?’

‘How did you know?’

‘I know when a miraculous is not in the same country as me.’

Adrien grimaced. ‘Sorry, I was meant to return it to you, but Marinette didn’t want me to.’

Master Fu took in a sharp breath. ‘Marinette? Why does your school friend know about the miraculouses?’

Adrien chuckled. ‘You can give it up, Master Fu. Marinette and I know that we’re Ladybug and Chat Noir.’

‘Oh.’ The old man began to chuckle, too. ‘Is that what you’re ringing to tell me?’

‘Ah, no. You see, Marinette revealed her identity to me, and then we sort of… started dating. She wanted me to keep my miraculous, though, and I just wanted to check with you, could I still be Chat Noir in Switzerland? You know, go on patrol one night a week or something and see if anyone needs help. What do you think?’

Master Fu hummed. ‘Only in the middle of the night, when it’s very dark, or for an emergency during the day. I don’t want people drawing the connection that Adrien Agreste has moved to Bern and so has Chat Noir. I don’t want you to be in any danger.’

‘I understand, Master Fu. Speaking of danger, how will Marinette be able to handle any new enemies? I know there won’t be any akumas now, and she’s told me that she’ll be fine, but what if she’s not?’

‘I see. I have been considering giving Rena Rouge her miraculous permanently, but I’ll see how Marinette fairs alone first. Does that satisfy you?”

‘Yes, thank you, Master Fu.’ Adrien paused, about to say goodbye, but then he remembered about Plagg and Tikki. ‘Also, completely random question, but can kwamis get married?’

The Guardian laughed. ‘I’m presuming this is about Tikki and Plagg?’

‘Err, yeah.’

‘Tell Plagg I’ll discuss it with him when you next come to Paris.’

‘Okay, thanks, Master Fu. I’ll see you soon.’

‘Goodbye, Adrien.’

The blond ended the call, and then he peered down at Plagg who had flown back into his shirt pocket and was now hiding there. ‘Did you hear that? It sounded pretty positive.’

Plagg groaned into the cotton and Adrien smirked: maybe the kwamis could have a joint wedding with him and Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug fights for the first time without Chat Noir.

**Thursday 13 th September**

‘Plagg loves his plushie, by the way.’

Marinette smiled at the pixelated image of her boyfriend. The sun was starting to set, casting rays of light across her bedroom, as well as in the background of Adrien’s. ‘Tikki loves hers, too,’ she said as she glanced over at her kwami. The red and black creature was led on the chaise, the Plagg plushie being squished to death in her tiny arms. The sight made Marinette frown, remembering how Adrien had held her on their last night together. It had been so long since she’d felt his arms around her. She even missed the way he smelt.

‘Princess? What’s wrong?’

She looked back up at the screen and gave Adrien a small smile. ‘Nothing. I just miss being held by you. I miss how you smell, too. I wish I’d taken a jacket or a jumper of yours when you weren’t looking.’

Adrien smirked, a light blush dusting across his cheeks now. ‘You can have half of my wardrobe if you like. As long as I can have something of yours, too.’

Any continuance of their conversation was abandoned when Marinette’s phone went off. She usually wouldn’t check it when she was talking to Adrien, but it wasn’t a text from a friend. It was a crime alert. Even though the akumas were long gone, there was still crime in Paris and Ladybug was still needed. This had been the first alert, though. The police had been setting it up since the defeat of Hawkmoth with no promise date of its activation. Today was obviously the day.

‘Was that…?’

Marinette nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘What is it?’

She looked at her phone, quickly checking the notification. ‘There are two men on Avenue des Champ-Élysées. They’re in the process of robbing a shop.’

‘Do they have weapons?’

‘It doesn’t say. I have to go. Tikki-’

‘No! Wait!’

Marinette frowned at the screen. ‘What’s wrong?’

Tears gathered in Adrien’s eyes. ‘Don’t go.’

‘I have to, kitty. This is my job.’

‘What if they hurt you?’

Marinette sighed. The balance of probability meant she more than likely would get hurt. She had always gotten hurt during an akuma battle. Now wouldn’t be any different. ‘Then they hurt me. We’ve both been hurt before. But I’ll be okay. The second it’s over, I’ll fly back here, I promise.’

Adrien nodded. ‘Okay, baby. Just please be careful.’ His voice was thick with tears.

‘I will be. I love you.’

‘I love you, too.’

Marinette smiled at the screen and then turned to her kwami. ‘Tikki, spots on!’

Adrien watched as his girlfriend transformed in a flash of pink light, then lassoed her way out of the bedroom, before he burst into tears. He knew Marinette was a more than capable fighter, but that had been against hypnotised people, all with a goal of collecting some jewellery. These people were actual criminals with loftier goals in mind, and they didn’t care about hurting Ladybug.

‘She’ll be okay, kid,’ Plagg said, zooming up into Adrien’s field of vision.

The blond model shook his head as he cried harder. ‘We don’t know that.’ He wiped his eyes and sniffed, staring at Marinette’s bedroom through his screen, waiting for her to come back.

…

Ladybug made it to Avenue des Champ-Élysées within five minutes and she immediately spotted the shop in question. The police were surrounding it, Officer Raincomprix at the helm.

She perched for a moment on a nearby building and turned to her side with a smile, expecting to see Chat there, but her grin faded when all she saw was the Parisian skyline. Adrien wasn’t here. How could she have forgotten that?

She jumped off the building, bouncing from a lamppost and down to the ground. Officer Raincomprix waved at her and Ladybug jogged to where he was stood.

‘What’s going on in there?’ she asked, peering over the police cars. It was a convenience store, small and compact, and there were two customers inside, both pressed up against the shop front from the inside, their hands above their heads and their faces panic stricken. ‘Why are they stood like that?’

Sabrina’s dad sighed. ‘There are two men inside. Typical get-up, all black, gloves, balaclavas. Two customers, too, plus a member of staff. They pressed the panic button. I think they’re emptying the till and safe for them.’

‘Okay, but you didn’t answer my question. Why are they stood like that?’

‘Oh. The two men have guns.’

Ladybug’s eyes widened. Guns? She hadn’t expected that.

Officer Raincomprix saw her alarm and handed her a bulletproof vest from one of the cars. ‘Here. Put this on. As grateful as I am for you battling akumas, criminals are very different. You’ll need to take extra precautions.’ He held up another vest. ‘Where’s Chat Noir?’

Ladybug averted her gaze as she pulled on her own vest. ‘He’s occupied. It’s just me tonight. Is the safe in the back of the shop?’

‘Yes. I contacted the owner before.’

‘Okay. I’ll scout out around the back. I’ll shout if I need any help.’

The policeman nodded and Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around a lamppost, using the leverage to leap onto the top of the shop. She didn’t fly through the air as quickly as she usually did, which was probably down to the extra-added weight of the bulletproof vest. Should she tell Adrien about this? She didn’t want to hide anything from him, but it might be better to lie to him to save him from worrying. But knowing him, he’d probably already be on the Ladyblog, watching a live stream of the full thing.

It wouldn’t do well to think about her boyfriend right now, though. Thoughts of Adrien would only distract her, and she needed to be fully focused. With a sigh, she ran across the roof and jumped down, now in a small concreted area behind the shop that served as a car park for the staff. The back door to the shop was slightly ajar, and Ladybug approached it, but she paused before she went in. Was she supposed to use her lucky charm? There would be no akuma damage to remedy once it was over, so would there be a point to using it? She shrugged to herself: she’d use it if she needed to. She took a deep breath, then slipped in through the door.

Ladybug entered the staff room, and as she did, she immediately heard talking. A woman was whimpering and a man was talking in rough French.

‘Keep filling the bag or I’ll shoot you.’

Ladybug swallowed the lump that she hadn’t known had formed in her throat. There really were guns. Adrien had been right. These people were criminals who didn’t care if she got hurt. She had to be careful.

There was a door in front of her that led into the shop, and another door to the right, which was where the voices were coming from. Ladybug tiptoed over to it and peeked through the gap.

The safe was at the far end of the room, and knelt in front of it was a crying woman who was packing stacks of euros into a rucksack, and a man was stood behind her, all in black and holding a gun to the woman’s head.

Ladybug felt her heartbeat pick up beneath her suit and the bulletproof vest as she crept into the room, but she didn’t take a deep breath in and out like she wanted to. She needed to keep quiet.

The man was stood at a slight angle, and if she moved forwards anymore, he would see her. There was nowhere in the room she could climb up to get the upper hand on the situation. Maybe if she-

The door shut behind her and the man turned around, his brown eyes wide in the slit of the balaclava. He raised his gun and Ladybug felt behind her for the door handle, but there was no way she would be able to open it before he fired. She had to act now.

Ladybug flipped her yo-yo out, wrapping it around the gun and tossing it to one side, and she used the moment of surprise on the thief’s face to wrap him up in her yo-yo, which made him fall to the floor with a grunt.

She stared at him for a moment before leaning against the door. Did she really just do that? She reached up, feeling where her heart was pounding at a mile a minute in her chest. He could have shot her. She could have been dead.

‘Thank you.’

Ladybug looked up and faked a smile when she saw the member of staff still crouched in front of the safe: she had completely forgotten that the other woman was there.

Ladybug moved away from the door and opened it quietly. ‘Leave through the back and go around to the front of the shop where the police cars are. Tell Officer Raincomprix to come here, but he needs to be quiet.’

The shop assistant nodded and then all but ran from the room and out of the building.

As soon as she was gone, Ladybug slumped down onto the floor. Was Adrien right? Should she not have come? She didn’t even feel this anxious after her very first akuma battle.

She sat there for a few more moments, watching as the man wrapped up in her yo-yo string grunted and wriggled around, trying to reach his gun. She picked it up instead, looking at it closely.

It didn’t feel as heavy as she was expecting it to. You could take someone’s life with this, yet it was so light. She glanced over at the man, who was still struggling. She should probably take out the bullets in case he managed to get free and overpower her.

She went to pull the barrel back, like she saw police do in crime dramas on television, but it wouldn’t move. Was she not supposed to do that?

‘Ladybug?’

She looked up and saw Officer Raincomprix stood in the doorway. ‘Erm, I know this looks odd but I thought I should take the bullets out of the gun but it doesn’t seem to be working.’

Officer Raincomprix took it off her and smiled. ‘It’s not real. It’s a lighter.’ He pointed it away from her and pulled the trigger, and small flame lit at the end of the barrel. ‘Sorry if I worried you by making you wear the bulletproof vest. We had been told that the guns were real and we couldn’t get a visual on them ourselves.’

‘It’s fine,’ she said, taking off the bulletproof vest with shaking hands.

‘Are you okay?’ the policeman asked.

‘I’m not sure really. Can you handle the other man on your own?’

‘If his gun is fake, too, we can. Do you need one of our medics to check you over before you leave? You look a bit pale.’

Ladybug shook her head as she stood up. Her legs were shaking now, too. ‘I’ll be fine. I just need to get home.’

Officer Raincomprix nodded, unwinding the yo-yo from around the man and handcuffing him. ‘You have my number on your yo-yo,’ he said as he handed it back to her. ‘Let me know if you ever need to talk. I was shaking like you after my first few cases, too.’

Ladybug nodded. ‘Thank you, officer. I’ll see you next time.’

He smiled at her and she left, more police officers coming into the building now. There were none in the staff car pack, though, so she took a moment to gather her thoughts before she went home. What was she going to tell Adrien? That it went well? If Officer Raincomprix was right about how she looked, then she wouldn’t be able to hide it from him.

‘Ladybug!’

She looked up, startled, but relaxed when she saw Alya, her phone held up, already recording. ‘Hey. Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be here.’

‘I’ll always be around for Ladybug related news! What happened in there? I heard the police officers say the men inside had guns. Was that true?’

‘Err, yes. Well, no, not technically,’ she said, biting her lip. Adrien was more than likely watching this. ‘They were fake guns. Lighters that look like guns.’

‘So, you’re not hurt?’

‘No, I’m completely fine.’

‘You look a little shaken, Ladybug.’

The teenage superhero laughed nervously. ‘I’m just tired, and I’d love to get home. I’ve had a long day.’

‘Maybe Chat could take you. Wait,’ Alya lowered her phone slightly. ‘Where is he?’

‘He couldn’t come tonight.’

Alya’s eyes widened. ‘What?! He’s Chat Noir! He always turns up! Do you have any information on his whereabouts?’

‘Alya, I’m sorry, but I really want to get going. Chat will be back soon, I promise. He’s just working out a few things. I have to go. I’ll see you next time.’

Despondent, Alya watched as Ladybug jumped onto a car and then onto the roof of a building. Ever since that very first akuma attack, Chat Noir had always been at Ladybug’s side. Where was he and what on earth was going on? This definitely required more investigating.

…

Adrien clicked out of the Ladyblog with a sniff. He had been crying again, but he couldn’t help it. There had been guns. Albeit fake, but there had been guns. Marinette could have been seriously hurt. And he could do nothing to help her other than sit here and wish he were there.

There was a flash of pink light on his computer screen, and a moment later, Marinette dropped down from her skylight and into her bedroom. She took a moment to orientate herself, then she was sat back at the computer desk. ‘Sorry, I didn’t think that would take so long.’ She registered the look on Adrien’s face then and her whole expression became concerned. ‘Adrien?’

‘T-there were guns. I saw. On Alya’s stream,’ he said, trying not to sound like he’d been crying for the past hour, but his face was probably blotchy and he more than likely had red eyes. There was no point in trying to disguise it.

‘They were fake.’

‘And you knew that going in there?’

Marinette shook her head, resigned. ‘No. But Officer Raincomprix gave me a bulletproof vest. I was safe. If the guns were real, they could have only shot me in the legs or arms. And it would have hurt, but I would have been fine eventually.’

‘Or they could have shot you in the head.’

Marinette’s eyes widened. ‘Adrien, I know that this situation isn’t ideal, but I’m worried about you, too. I don’t know what kind of country Switzerland is, and I have even less of an idea of what will happen to you when you go out on patrol on your own. And I don’t get to have a live stream of you to make sure you’re okay. I know today had the potential to be extremely dangerous, but this is our job now. We still need to protect people.’

‘I know, but…’ Adrien sighed. ‘I don’t want you to put your life at risk, not now, not when I’ve only just found you.’

She gave her boyfriend a light smile. ‘Me, too. But I took every precaution today, besides a bulletproof helmet, and I’ll continue to do so. Promise me you’ll do the same?’

Adrien nodded without any hesitation whatsoever. ‘Always, princess.’

‘Are you okay now? You looked like you’d been crying.’

‘I’ll be fine. You looked pretty shaken up yourself.’

Marinette shrugged. ‘I wasn’t expecting the guns, but I’ll be okay after talking to you some more. Come on, let’s talk about something happy.’

Adrien smirked. ‘Did you finish what you made to wear for when you come to visit me?’

‘Yep.’

‘Can I see it then?’

‘Nope.’

Adrien groaned and Marinette giggled. ‘You’ll get to see it when you pick me up from the train station.’

‘But that’s not until next Friday! It’s going to be such a long week until I get to hold you again.’

Marinette smiled. ‘It’ll be worth it, though, right?’

Adrien nodded with a wink. ‘Definitely.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette are finally reunited in Bern.

**Friday 21 st September**

It had been the longest three weeks of Marinette’s life, but she was finally on the train to Bern, hurtling forwards to see her boyfriend. She had distracted herself with friends, with school, with being Ladybug, but no matter what she did, nothing could stop her from missing Adrien, nor could it stop their daily Skype call being the highlight of her day.

Marinette’s knee jiggled with excitement. She’d woken up early, already buzzing for the day ahead, and had packed her weekend bag ready. She’d gotten to school on time, but had barely paid attention in class. Rather, Marinette had spent the whole day staring at Adrien’s empty seat until the final bell sounded, which was when she ran from the classroom and all the way home. She got changed, grabbed her bag, and then she was off to the Gare de Lyon, and now she was on the train to Bern.

She glanced out of the window at the passing countryside. They were still in France. The train ride would take a while, another five hours yet. She should really take a nap: Marinette had been up at five o’clock due to her excitement and she was getting tired. She let out a yawn and leant against the window: a few minutes couldn’t hurt.

…

Adrien tapped his foot as he stared at the train in front of him. It was from Paris: he’d already checked that with the conductor, and he knew Marinette had been on it. But where was she? The train had pulled into the station five minutes ago, and the entire platform had flooded with people, but Marinette had not been among them. Adrien was starting to get seriously worried. He’d already rung her twice with no result. He’d have to get on the train and investigate himself.

He stepped onto the train and Plagg peeked out of Adrien’s shirt pocket. ‘Hey, uh, I know I want to see Tikki and everything, but I don’t fancy spending six hours on a train back to Paris.’

Adrien shushed his kwami. ‘It’s fine. Bern is an end of line station. It won’t set off back to Paris for another twenty minutes.’

‘I hope you’re right, kid.’

Adrien advanced through the quiet train, getting progressively worried the further he went. All of the carriages were empty and there was no sign of Marinette or Tikki.

The blond pulled out his phone, about to call the Gorilla for help, but that’s when he saw Marinette, his girlfriend, his love, sound asleep against the window. And Tikki was tugging on her cheek, attempting to wake her up.

‘Please, Marinette, you need to wake up.’

‘It’s okay, Tikki.’

The red and black kwami grinned. ‘Adrien!’

‘Hey, Tikki. Is this Marinette’s rucksack?’ he asked, pointing to the pink bag on the floor.

Tikki nodded and then bit her lip. ‘Where’s Plagg?’

Adrien smiled and opened his shirt pocket. ‘In here. You can come out when we get to mine.’

Tikki smiled and flew into the pocket, then Adrien secured Marinette’s bag onto his back before he scooped his girlfriend into his arms. She was small and lithe and must have been exhausted to have fallen asleep on a train. Knowing his excitable girlfriend, she had probably woken up way too early. Not that he had room to speak. He’d woken up at four am, too hyper to even attempt to sleep. He’d tidied his bedroom three times, done some studying, and made some cookies for him and Marinette to eat over the weekend. He’d been exhausted by midday and had almost fallen asleep in class. He’d had a nap when he’d got home from school, but Marinette obviously didn’t have time for that. Dupont finished at three-thirty pm and her train was at four pm. It was now ten pm: it was no wonder she was tired.

He pressed a kiss to his girlfriend’s forehead, then he carried her off the train. Adrien had missed Marinette so much. He had no idea how he’d coped without her for so long. But he’d survived. The rest of the year would be hard, but it would be manageable.

‘Mm…’ Marinette stirred in his arms, her blue eyes opening ever so slightly. ‘Adrien?’ she whispered.

‘Hey, princess. It’s okay. I’m just carrying you out to the car.’

Marinette smiled and one of her hands slid up his chest and rested on the side of his neck. ‘I missed you,’ she whispered, her voice quiet and high from sleeping.

‘Me, too.’ He kissed her on the forehead again. ‘You can go back to sleep, baby.’

She giggled at the pet name. ‘No, it’s okay, I’m waking up now.’ She didn’t make a move to get down from Adrien’s arms. Instead, she snuggled further into his body and turned her head into his chest. She had planned on being awake for when the train arrived in Bern, wanting to run into Adrien’s arms, but this was just as good. She knew people were more than likely looking at them, but she didn’t care. Three weeks had been long enough without being able to touch Adrien.

She stayed curled against his chest until they got to the car outside the station, listening to the soft beat of his heart. She felt his arms move as he opened the car door and Marinette attempted to jump down to the ground, but Adrien held tighter on to her.

‘Let me, my lady,’ he whispered, adjusting his hold on his girlfriend so he could put her in the car.

Marinette let him, unable to stop smiling as Adrien even plugged in her seatbelt for her. He returned her smile before he handed Marinette her bag and shut the car door, then he jogged around to the other side. He climbed into the backseat, too, shuffling over so he was sat right beside her in the middle seat. He plugged in himself, then he wrapped an arm around Marinette.

The Gorilla grunted and the car set off, but Marinette barely noticed. She was too busy looking at Adrien. She had roughly about fifty pictures of him up in her bedroom, and they chatted over Skype every single day of the week, but nothing could beat seeing him in person. ‘I really did miss you,’ she whispered, almost in disbelief that she was actually here, in his arms again.

‘Me, too. I would say you have no idea how much, but I think you do.’ He leant forwards, but instead of kissing her, he rested his forehead against hers. ‘I want to kiss you so bad. But I don’t want the Gorilla to see.’

Marinette smiled. ‘It’s okay, I understand. If I’ve waited three weeks, I can wait a bit longer. How far is it to your house?’

‘Ten minutes.’

Marinette nodded and closed her eyes. It was only ten minutes, she could survive that. But if she was being honest, she really wanted to kiss Adrien. After spending nearly three years waiting for them to get together, only to be torn apart when they did, she was getting on the verge of desperate. She moved her head slightly, nestling it in the crook of Adrien’s neck, her lips pressed against the skin there. It wasn’t the same, but it was enough for now.

She stayed sat like that for the rest of the journey, letting out a sigh of relief when the Gorilla turned the car engine off. She unplugged herself and grabbed her bag almost immediately and Adrien smirked at her.

‘You okay?’

Marinette nodded. ‘I just want to kiss you,’ she admitted quietly with a blush on her cheeks.

Adrien grinned and got out of the car, sprinting around to the other side to open Marinette’s door. He helped her out, then he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the house. He was planning on going straight for the stairs, but a smiling Nathalie was slightly blocking their way.

‘Welcome home, Adrien. It’s nice to see you again, Marinette.’

‘Hi, Nathalie,’ Marinette said then squeezed Adrien’s hand. As much as she liked Adrien’s guardian, now wasn’t really the time.

‘How was your journey?’

‘A bit long,’ she replied with a nervous laugh.

‘She’s a little tired, Nathalie,’ Adrien said, moving closer to the stairs. ‘So I was just going to-’

Nathalie’s smile widened and she moved again, completely blocking the stairs now. ‘Have you eaten yet, Marinette?’

‘Erm, no. But I’ll be fine until the morning.’

‘I think you should eat.’

Adrien held back his groan. ‘Could you order us some pizza then?’ That would give them at least fifteen minutes undisturbed.

‘Of course. What flavour would you like, Marinette?’

‘Ermmm…’

‘She likes the same as me,’ the blond boy said, getting exasperated now. ‘Can we just-’

‘Do Marinette’s parents know that you’ll be sharing a room?’

Adrien really did groan now. ‘Yes, and they’re fine with it. And no, you don’t need to ring them and check. And yes, we’ve shared a bed before. It’s all fine. Can we go now?!’

Nathalie stared at the two seventeen-year-olds for a moment, then she moved to one side with a smile. ‘Of course. I’ll shout you when the pizza’s here.’

‘Thank you. Let’s go, Marinette.’ Adrien sighed and pulled his girlfriend up the stairs, along the hall, but when they were outside his bedroom, Nathalie shouted up to them.

‘If you’re going to have sex, there are condoms in the bottom of your bedside table!’

‘Oh my god, shut up, mum!’ Adrien groaned again and pulled Marinette into his bedroom, slamming the door behind them. ‘I am so sorry, I had no idea she would do that,’ he said, leaning against the door.

Marinette giggled and let go of Adrien’s hand. She stepped further into the room and placed her bag down onto the bed. ‘I don’t mind. It was kind of funny.’ She turned back to him with a smile. ‘Are you going to kiss me now?’

Adrien’s exasperated face gave way to a smirk and he walked over to Marinette. His hands immediately rested on her hips and he looked her straight in the eyes. ‘I feel like I’ve waited a year to do this.’

Before Marinette could respond, Adrien leant in and kissed her. Her hands immediately went to rest on his shoulders and she kissed him back without hesitation. This is what she’d been missing these past few weeks: physical contact with her boyfriend. She went up onto her tiptoes and moved her hands upwards, her fingers threading into Adrien’s blond hair.

The blond held her tighter then, pulling her even closer to him. How did he get this lucky to have a girl as brilliant as Marinette in love with him? He never thought he’d get a chance at happiness, not after his mother died, and certainly not after he realised his father was Hawkmoth, but now he was here, with the girl he was certain was his soul mate, who had spent the best part of the day travelling to see him just for the weekend. Marinette was amazing.

‘Are there really condoms?’ Marinette asked when Adrien pulled away.

‘I’m not sure if Nathalie was joking or not. Why? Did you want to…’

Marinette squeaked and stepped away from Adrien. ‘No! Well, not yet. I’m not saying never, but just not yet. Is that okay?’ she asked, finishing in a whisper.

Adrien stepped over to her with a smile, taking her hands in his again. ‘Of course. I wouldn’t dream of ever pushing you into anything.’ He blushed then. ‘Do you errmm… want to do it, though?’

‘Yes,’ Marinette whispered, her head bowed. ‘You?’

‘Yeah. I want to.’ Adrien chuckled and hugged his girlfriend. ‘Don’t be so embarrassed. It’s a normal thing for couples to talk about.’

Marinette nodded and found herself smiling. Hearing Adrien say they were a couple was a dream come true. She knew they’d been a couple for a while now, but being so far apart from him made thinking about them like that seem odd. When he was here with her, it was the perfect way to describe them.

‘Why don’t you unpack your clothes?’ Adrien said. ‘I’ll check if there really are condoms.’

Marinette nodded with a smile and Adrien went over to his bedside table. He opened the bottom drawer, and sure enough, there was a box of condoms in assorted sizes. He sighed and slammed it shut. ‘Well, there really are condoms.’

His girlfriend giggled and went back over to him. ‘Just leave them in there. Nathalie was only trying to be helpful.’ Marinette bit her lip. ‘Did you realise that you called her mum before?’

Adrien stared at her for a moment before his eyes widened: he really did call his guardian mum. ‘Oh.’

‘It’s okay. I’m sure Nathalie didn’t notice.’

‘But my mum… my actual mum…’ Adrien sat down on the bed next to Marinette’s bag. ‘Won’t she be upset?’

Marinette shook her head and knelt down in front of him. ‘Your mum will just be happy that you have someone amazing looking after you. Calling someone mum or dad isn’t always about them being a biological parent. You’re not replacing your mum or harming her memory by accidentally calling Nathalie it once.’

Adrien nodded and took his girlfriend’s hands in his, fiddling with her fingers for a moment before he noticed what was on her wrist. He’d been so caught up with just simply seeing her again that he had barely noticed she wasn’t wearing her usual outfit. She was a wearing a tight light pink jumper that showed off her curves nicely, and embroidered onto the wrist cuff, was a tiny green paw print and a red circle with black dots in it. ‘You made this?’

Marinette nodded. ‘Yep. Do you like it? I made it the day you left.’

‘It’s amazing, Marinette. I’m sorry for not noticing before.’

‘It’s okay,’ she said with a smile. ‘I barely even noticed what your new house looks like. I was too excited about seeing you again.’

Adrien reached out and cupped Marinette’s cheek in his hand. ‘All this time we were apart, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. Not a day went by where you weren’t the first thing on my mind.’

Marinette’s smile couldn’t help but widen. ‘Me, too.’

‘Do you think you two could stop being sappy for just a minute?’ Plagg asked as he peeked out of Adrien’s pocket.

‘Sorry, Plagg,’ Marinette said. ‘Is Tikki in there with you?’

The red and black kwami flew out of Adrien’s pocket and went over to Marinette, her face with a noticeable blush on it.

‘You okay?’ the pig-tailed girl asked, and Tikki just nodded whilst biting her lip.

‘Can I talk to you?’ the kwami whispered. ‘Alone?’

Marinette nodded. ‘Of course!’

‘We’ll go downstairs and wait for the pizza,’ Adrien said as Plagg went back into his pocket. ‘Do you want a drink?’

‘Water’s fine.’

Adrien smiled and left the room, and Marinette turned back to where her kwami was hovering in mid air. ‘What’s wrong, Tikki?’

‘Nothing. But Plagg… he kissed me!’

Marinette gasped and cupped Tikki in her hands. ‘I’m so happy for you!’

The kwami couldn’t stop smiling. ‘I’ve been waiting so long for him to do it again.’

‘Did you tell him how you felt this time?’

Tikki nodded and Marinette squealed. ‘That’s amazing, Tikki. I’ll make sure Adrien and I keep or miraculouses for as long as possible so you can be together, okay?’

‘You don’t have to do that, but thank you.’ Tikki let out a little giggle. ‘I know I won’t get to see Plagg much this year, but now I know that we feel the same way about each other, the distance will be much easier to bear.’

Marinette nodded, completely understanding. If Adrien had gone to Switzerland and she hadn’t told him how she felt, and she hadn’t told him she was Ladybug, it would have been so hard without him. But now they were a couple, it was somewhat easier to handle.

Adrien came back into the room with two glasses of water and a cake tin, which he set down on the bedside table.

‘What’s in there?’ Marinette asked and Adrien opened the tin sheepishly.

‘I couldn’t sleep this morning, so I made us some cookies. They won’t be as good as your dad’s, but I thought we could have them after the pizza.’

Marinette smiled and kissed her boyfriend’s cheek. ‘I’m sure they’ll taste just fine. They smell amazing.’

Adrien grinned, then went over to his desk and switched on his computer. ‘Choose something on Netflix to watch. The pizza’s almost here. I’ll go wait for it.’

She nodded and went over to the three-screen monitor setup, smiling when she saw the left one had her as the screensaver, Ladybug as the right one, and the middle one as his mum. Adrien was so sweet. She loaded up Netflix and picked something at random and let it play, then she went back over to Adrien’s bed and climbed in. She snuggled under the covers, then held the duvet up to her face. Everything smelled of Adrien, even though it was a new bedroom. She couldn’t wait to move in with after they finished high school. It was going to be amazing.

Adrien came back into the room with the pizza and he couldn’t help but smile when he saw Marinette in his bed. When they’d first met, they’d been about the same size, but now Adrien how grown to be taller and stronger than his girlfriend, and Marinette looked so small against the dark bed sheets. She fit so perfectly around his body and he couldn’t wait to cuddle with her all weekend. He climbed into the bed without any hesitation and Marinette instantly fell into his side, the pizza box on both of their laps.

‘What are we watching?’ Adrien whispered, opening up the pizza box with one hand, the other working its way around his girlfriend’s waist.

‘I don’t know. I just picked something random.’

Adrien smiled. ‘Good choice. Open your mouth. I want to feed you pizza.’

Marinette giggled but complied; nibbling at the slice Adrien offered her.

‘So, is school okay?’ he asked. ‘I know you said it is, but I just wanted to check, in case things really aren’t okay and you were just saying it so I wouldn’t worry.’

She smiled at how sweet her boyfriend was. ‘Everything’s fine, I promise. The only thing wrong is that you’re not there.’

Adrien’s grip on Marinette’s waist tightened. She was adorable. ‘And Chloe? She hasn’t started bullying you again?’

Marinette shook her head. ‘To be honest, Chloe hasn’t really spoken to anyone apart from Sabrina and our teachers. She occasionally talks to Kim, but she won’t even look at anyone else. I’m actually starting to worry about her. Maybe you should call her?’

Adrien nodded. ‘I’ll do it when you leave. This weekend, I only want to think about you.’

The teenage superheroes snuggled closer together, feeding each other pizza until it was all gone.

‘You tired?’ Adrien whispered, his own eyelids drooping closed slightly.

‘Yeah.’

Adrien nodded, but instead of letting go of Marinette, he tightened his hold on her. He really didn’t want her to leave his arms, but she would have to, even for just a moment. ‘Go and get changed in the bathroom.’

She nodded, kissed him on the cheek, then left his arms.

He watched from the bed as she grabbed her pyjamas from her bag, then scampered into his en suite, Tikki following behind.

With a sigh, Adrien rolled off his bed and Plagg flew out of his pocket, a smirk on his small face.

‘Why are you looking at me like that? You’ve already had three pieces of camembert today. You don’t need anymore,’ Adrien said as he went over to his wardrobe to get his pyjamas.

‘No, it’s not that.’

‘Then what is it?’ he asked, taking off his jeans and replacing them with his sleeping pants.

‘You and Marinette. And sex.’

Adrien groaned as he took off his top. ‘I’m not talking about this with you.’

‘Hey, come on, kid. I’ve been alive for years. I know about the birds and the bees. Do you need me to give you the talk?’

‘My mum gave me the talk, my dad gave me the talk, Nathalie gave me the talk, and Madame Bustier gave me the talk. I don’t need a fifth version of it.’ Adrien held up his pyjama shirt, about to put it on, but he lowered it at the last second to glare at Plagg. ‘Hold on, the only person, well, kwami, you’ve ever liked is Tikki, and you’ve only ever kissed. What do you know about sex?’

Plagg chuckled. ‘My previous wearers haven’t always had the most wholesome intentions.’

Adrien wrinkled his nose. ‘I don’t want to know anymore.’

‘Let’s just say, you have to be a certain kind of person to willingly run around in a skin-tight leather cat suit.’

Before Adrien could reply, the door to the en suite opened and Marinette came out with Tikki, only for his girlfriend to let out a little squeak. ‘Adrien! You’re…’

‘Huh?’ He looked down, then quickly put on his sleeping shirt. ‘Sorry. I got distracted. Let’s go to bed.’

Marinette nodded, blushing, and she shuffled back over to the bed. The two teenagers climbed in, and immediately, Marinette cuddled against Adrien’s chest.

He wrapped his arms and her with a chuckle and placed a kiss on top of her head. ‘Good night, princess.’

But he got no response: his girlfriend was already asleep.

…

**Saturday 22 nd September**

Marinette woke up first to the chirping of the Swiss birds. She was only a country away from France, yet the early morning birds sounded so different here. She tried to sit up and see where Tikki was, but she was held down by an arm around her waist. She smiled, knowing who that arm belonged to, and she raised her head slightly so she could see Adrien.

She couldn’t help but let out a little giggle. Marinette couldn’t believe she was actually here in his arms, against his chest… her face began to heat up as she remembered what she saw last night. She had never seen Adrien topless before, and she’d tried never to think about him that way either. But she was seventeen now, not the nervous thirteen-year-old she’d been when she had first met him. And after the condoms incident… She really shouldn’t be thinking about this. But she couldn’t help it either. His chest was as perfect as the rest of him, and it only served in making him look even stronger than he already was after four years of being Chat Noir. Would they ever sleep together whilst he was topless? Did couples even do that? Should she ask Alya? Marinette’s face became even redder. Maybe she shouldn’t ask Alya about her and Nino. But she couldn’t help but be curious. Adrien was her first boyfriend, and she was far too embarrassed to talk to him about it.

She sighed and angled her head a little. On the bedside table sat the tin of cookies, unopened, both of the teenagers having been too tired last night to eat them. But next to it was the framed photo of the two of them that Marinette had given him the night she had confessed to him. It looked like it belonged there, next to his lamp and alarm clock.

‘It’s a good picture,’ Adrien mumbled, his green eyes slightly open.

‘When did you wake up?’ Marinette asked, sitting up slightly now that Adrien’s grip wasn’t so tight on her waist.

‘A few minutes ago.’

‘Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘I wanted to watch you. You’re cute, you know.’

Marinette giggled and laid back down in Adrien’s arms. ‘You may have mentioned it once or twice.’

He leant down and pressed a kiss to Marinette’s bare shoulder. ‘I haven’t got round to putting up more pictures of you yet. I’m sorry.’

‘You don’t need to apologise. I saw last night that I’m two out of your three computer backgrounds, so I’d definitely say that’s enough.’

Adrien chuckled, his hand now moving up and down Marinette’s waist and hips. ‘And my phone background. That’s crucial.’

‘Very crucial.’

Marinette closed her eyes and let her head rest in the crook of Adrien’s neck. ‘Where are Tikki and Plagg?’

‘I have absolutely no idea and I think it should stay that way. You know, Plagg tried to give me tips about sex last night.’

The Asian girl blushed but didn’t open her eyes nor did she move. ‘Oh? What did he say?’

‘I wouldn’t let him say anything. But I do need to talk to Nathalie about those condoms.’

Marinette nodded, not saying anything to encourage the conversation. She’d thought about it in the bathroom last night, when she’d gone to put her pyjamas on, and she definitely did want to have sex with Adrien, but certainly not right now. If her boyfriend even saw her in a swimming costume, she’d probably die of embarrassment, let alone naked.

‘What do you want for breakfast?’ Adrien asked.

‘Just a croissant and some milk is fine.’

The blond nodded and he climbed out of bed. Marinette went to follow but Adrien shook his head as he covered her up with the duvet. ‘Stay here and keep warm. I want to serve you breakfast in bed.’

Marinette grinned, all too happy to comply. ‘Okay.’

Adrien returned her smile and kissed her lightly on the lips. ‘Back in a minute, princess.’

He padded out of his room and down the stairs before rounding the corner into the kitchen. The Gorilla was sat at the breakfast bar, reading a newspaper, and Nathalie was stood by the kettle, sipping a cup of coffee.

‘Good morning, Adrien,’ she said with a small smile, but the blond frowned at her.

‘When did you put condoms in my bedside table?’

‘Yesterday, whilst you were at school.’

‘Why?’

Nathalie looked at her ward with narrowed eyes. ‘So you won’t give each other STD’s or get Marinette pregnant. That is the general point of condoms, Adrien. Did you use them?’ she asked, taking another sip of coffee.

‘W-what?!’ Adrien spluttered. ‘No!’

Nathalie’s eyes widened. ‘Why not?!’

‘Because we’ve only been together for a month! We’re nowhere close to having sex yet.’

Nathalie raised her eyebrows. ‘Yet. So you will be needing the condoms after all. Just remember they usually expire after three years.’

Adrien groaned and faced the Gorilla. ‘Can you help me here?’

The bodyguard snorted into his newspaper then left the room. He was worse than useless sometimes.

Adrien sighed and grabbed two croissants from the bread bin and put them on a tray, then poured two glasses of milk. ‘I was thinking of taking Marinette out for lunch, and then shopping this afternoon. Is that alright?’

Nathalie nodded. ‘Of course. Be home for dinner at five, and put a condom in your wallet. You know, just in case.’

He rolled his eyes as he grabbed the tray. ‘Yeah, in case I need to make a balloon. Thanks, Nathalie.’

‘Any time, Adrien.’

He sighed and left the room and ascended back up the stairs. His dad had never been much of a parent, and now Nathalie was trying to make up for it by being the most enthusiastic and intrusive guardian in all of Europe. At least she cared.

He nudged open the door to his bedroom with his hip and smiled at the sight in front of him. Marinette was sat up against the headboard, giggling as Tikki chased Plagg in the air.

‘Plagg! Stop calling me sugar cube!’

The black kwami cackled. ‘I know you love it secretly, darling.’

Tikki groaned and sat on Marinette’s shoulder. ‘Can’t you make him stop?’

‘I doubt he’d listen to me. Besides, sugar cube is a cute nickname.’

Tikki groaned. ‘No, it’s not. Princess and my lady and bugaboo and baby are, and Plagg calls me none of those.’

‘Oh, Tikki,’ Marinette said, trying to hold in her chuckle. ‘Are you jealous of me and Adrien?’

The kwami looked away. ‘A little bit,’ she whispered.

Marinette tutted and ushered Plagg over, and he zoomed to her immediately.

‘Plagg, Tikki doesn’t really like being called sugar cube.’

‘You didn’t like it when Chat Noir called you Bugaboo but he calls it you all the time now.’

‘Plagg, shut up,’ Adrien said as he entered the room properly now.

‘But Marinette used to hate being called Bugaboo!’

Marinette sighed, trying to appease the kwamis. ‘That was before I knew Chat Noir was being serious about his feelings for me, and before I knew he was really Adrien.’

Plagg frowned, visibly deflated. ‘But calling Tikki sugar cube makes me happy. She’s really sweet and pretty. She’s my sugar cube.’ The black kwami huffed and flew off into the en suite, Tikki going after him.

‘Ah! Tikki, wait!’ Marinette went to get up from the bed, but Adrien shook his head.

‘Just leave them to it. They’ve been alive for centuries. I’m sure they can work things out.’

Marinette nodded and stayed sat on the bed, smiling when she saw the breakfast laid out for her. ‘Thank you for bringing me food.’

Adrien got back into the bed and the two teenagers shuffled closer together, the tray laid on both of their laps. ‘Anything for you, my lady. I was thinking of going into the town centre for lunch, then doing a bit of shopping before we come back here for dinner?’

Marinette nodded as she picked up her croissant. ‘And cuddling this morning and tonight?’

Adrien chuckled. ‘Of course, princess.’

…

**Sunday 23 rd September**

Sunday morning had come all too quickly for Adrien’s liking. Marinette’s train wasn’t until four pm, so they still had time to spend together, but he didn’t want to be without her for so long again.

After they’d gotten dressed yesterday, the young couple had barely spent a moment apart. They were always touching in some way, whether it was with their pinkies linked under the table when they were eating, or cuddling in the car or in Adrien’s bed. It had only been two days, but Adrien honestly couldn’t imagine letting Marinette leave him to go back to Paris.

Her next visit wouldn’t be for another month, when it was his birthday at the end of October, and he really didn’t want to wait that long, but he would have to.

And Plagg was hurting, too. He and Tikki had made up yesterday, but had declined to come out shopping with them. Instead, they had stayed in the bathroom, and when Adrien and Marinette returned home, they’d found the kwamis asleep and snuggled together in the soap dish. They were an adorable little couple, and it would hurt both of the creatures to be away from each other again, despite already having spent centuries apart before.

Adrien sighed quietly and looked down at Marinette. She was led on his chest, sleeping peacefully, and he took the opportunity to carefully run his fingers through her hair. She hardly ever wore it down, but she looked so much more beautiful like this. He was glad he was one of the only people who got to see her like this.

He wanted to tell her how pretty she was with her hair down, but she’d probably just blush and stutter. She was like that with the condoms. Why on earth did Nathalie put them in his room? He groaned quietly, trying not to wake his girlfriend in his despair. But maybe it had been a good thing. He certainly would never have brought up the subject of sex, and he was sure Marinette would much rather kill herself than ever initiate a conversation about it. At least now he knew that Marinette did want to have sex with him, even though she came across as very innocent looking. He could say the same about himself, but he often found himself thinking, especially more recently now he knew who she was, about the curves of Marinette’s body in her Ladybug costume. The jumper she made had the same effect on him, and Adrien took a lot of pride in knowing that he had been the only person to hold Marinette’s perfect body in his arms.

It wasn’t doing him any good to think about any of this. Instead, he just held his girlfriend tighter. She would be leaving soon and he didn’t want her to leave his arms at all today until the last possible moment.

‘Adrien’, she mumbled, wiggling slightly in his arms.

He winced and loosened his grip slightly. ‘Sorry, my lady.’

She opened her eyes with a smile. ‘It’s okay. Did you have something on your mind?’ she asked, her voice quiet from sleep, like it had been when he’d carried her off the train on Friday.

‘Just thinking about how much I’m going to miss you when you leave today.’

Marinette frowned. ‘I’ll miss you loads, too. But I’ll text you for the whole journey. And I’ll Skype you the moment I get home.’

Adrien nodded, still wishing that Marinette would stay and live here with him, in a home of their own. ‘Yeah, I know. Doesn’t mean I can’t wait to move in with you after high school, though.’

Marinette giggled and she sat up, straddling Adrien’s hips. ‘It’s going to be the best! Can I make cushions for the living room?’

He grinned and rested his hands on his girlfriend’s hips. ‘You can make whatever you want as long as you’re there with me.’

‘I definitely will be.’ She leant down then and kissed Adrien. Despite spending the whole weekend together, the couple had barely kissed, deciding to just cuddle together and be close to each other. That was obviously changing now, when Marinette only had a few hours left before she went back to Paris.

Adrien kissed her back, one hand staying on her hip, the other cupping her face, slowly reaching to thread his fingers into her hair. He tugged on it slightly to bring her closer to him, but it resulted in the opposite effect.

Marinette moaned into his mouth and pulled back with a gasp. She shuffled away from her boyfriend but Adrien grabbed her arm before she could get too far away from him on the double bed.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. That’s a normal reaction.’

She looked up at him through her eyelashes, blushing. ‘It is?’ she whispered.

Adrien nodded. ‘Yeah. Do you want to stop?’

Marinette bit her lip, but after a moment, she shook her head. ‘No.’

‘Come here.’

She crawled over to him, placing herself back in his lap with her legs either side of his hips, her gaze averted.

Adrien crooked one of his fingers and let it rest under Marinette’s chin before he slowly tilted her head upwards. ‘Are you okay, baby?’

She bit her lip and nodded. ‘Yeah, just… I’m nervous.’

‘We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Just say stop, and I will. I promise. I would never do anything to hurt you,’ Adrien whispered.

Marinette nodded. ‘I know. I love you.’

‘I love you, too.’ Then Adrien leant in again and kissed his girlfriend, this time his hands resting on her hips.

Marinette’s hands went to his hair as she kissed him back, pulling on the strands slightly like he’d done to her earlier, and just like her, Adrien let out a moan, too. Marinette pulled back as she squeaked, but then she went straight back in, kissing her boyfriend once more.

Adrien moaned again, quieter this time. Her little squeak had been so cute. He pulled her closer to him, so their chests were pressed together, and the movement of his hands made Marinette’s pyjama top ride up slightly. He fiddled with the hem a little, and when she didn’t move away, he slipped his hands underneath her top. He didn’t move them, just rested them on her waist. He felt her stiffen slightly and Adrien pulled out of the kiss.

‘Is this okay?’ he whispered, his forehead pressed against hers. ‘Tell me to stop and I will.’

Marinette’s hands drifted down to Adrien’s neck. Her eyes were slightly hooded and her pink lips were on the verge of becoming swollen. She looked gorgeous staring at him like this, her cheeks bright pink and her pupils blown wide. ‘Carry on,’ she whispered back, leaning in to kiss her boyfriend again.

She showed no signs of hesitation, all traces of nervousness from earlier completely gone, so Adrien returned Marinette’s kiss, letting his hands slowly slide upwards. The skin on her back was so smooth and soft and he couldn’t help but rub his thumbs in small fingers, caressing it ever so slightly. He moved upwards, the way he was kissing Marinette slowing down when he didn’t feel her bra strap on her back. Where was it? Did girls wear bras to bed? Realisation dawned on Adrien that no, they probably didn’t. And that Marinette wasn’t wearing one now, either. He felt himself blush, but he made no play to move his hands around to the front of her chest. He had assumed that she was wearing a bra. The fact that she wasn’t yet she still let him put his hands up her top spoke volumes about how much she trusted Adrien.

He pulled out of the kiss then, a little breathless, but didn’t move his hands. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked, noticing that Marinette was shaking a little in his arms.

She nodded. ‘Yeah,’ she whispered, her eyes almost completely closed now. ‘It felt good.’

Adrien removed his hands from under her shirt and she whined quietly from the loss of contact, but he was sure to wrap his girlfriend back up in his arms straight after, from the outside of her shirt this time. ‘Thank you for letting me do that.’

She just hummed, her eyes drooping closed.

‘Are you getting tired?’ Adrien asked. They had only just woken up, but it was understandable that Marinette was sleepy again. To most people, making out wasn’t a big deal, but it was something huge for Marinette.

She nodded and Adrien carefully laid her back down. ‘Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up later.’

‘But I want to spend time with you… we don’t have long left…’ she mumbled.

Adrien smiled and caressed Marinette’s cheek as he lay beside her, propped up on one elbow. ‘It’s fine, baby. Go to sleep.’

She couldn’t put up any more of a protest and she fell asleep almost immediately. She was right: they didn’t have long left before Marinette’s train back to Paris, but Adrien would much rather she caught up on sleep. Besides, he could still cuddle her like this, and she looked just as beautiful asleep as she did awake.

He wrapped his arms around her small frame with his eyes closed for a good hour until he felt a tugging at his hand. He opened his eyes to see Tikki and Plagg floating in the air above him and Marinette.

‘Hey, guys,’ he whispered. ‘Is everything okay?’

Tikki nodded. ‘Yes, but it’s already twelve pm. Marinette has to go soon.’

‘I know, but I want her to sleep. She seems very tired lately. Has she been stressed?’

Tikki sighed as she came to sit by Marinette’s head on the pillow. ‘Yeah. Saving Paris on her own is taking it out of her.’

Adrien nodded. ‘I hope Master Fu gives Rena Rouge her miraculous permanently soon. I don’t want her to be so exhausted that she can barely keep her eyes open after kissing me. Are you two okay now after the sugar cube incident?’

Plagg smirked as he flew down to sit beside Tikki. ‘Everything’s fine, kid. You don’t need to worry about us. Just focus us on your lady and I’ll take care of mine.’

Tikki giggled then and snuggled up against Plagg.

Adrien smiled at the two kwamis. They were the exact opposite of each other, yet they were so perfect together. ‘Come on, I think we could all do with the sleep.’

They nodded and curled up together on the pillow, and Adrien noticed the little kiss Plagg pressed to Tikki’s forehead. The kwamis were adorable.

…

Marinette rooted through her bag in the bathroom. It was nearing three thirty pm and she would have to go soon, but she still needed to get dressed.

She really didn’t want to go home, not after having an amazing weekend with Adrien. Granted, most of it had been spent in their pyjamas and asleep, but just knowing she was with Adrien had made her sleep so much better.

As she rooted through her bag, searching for her clothes, she thought back to what they’d done this weekend. More specifically, the way they’d kissed this morning. It made her blush over again. Adrien was so relaxed and patient with her. He was the best boyfriend in the world.

But none of that was helping her find her clothes. She’d found her pink jeans and white t-shirt, but there was no sign of her blazer. Had she left it at home by mistake? It seemed to be the case.

She opened the bathroom door, still in her pyjamas and saw Adrien sat on the bed, fully dressed.

‘Everything okay?’ he asked.

‘I’ve left my blazer at home. Do you think I could borrow a jumper of yours? I don’t really want to wear my pink jumper again.’

Adrien smiled as he went over to his wardrobe. He grabbed a black jumper and then handed it to Marinette. ‘You can keep it. Do you think I could have your jumper? So it seems like you’re still here when you’re gone.’

Marinette chuckled and she gave her pink jumper to her boyfriend. ‘I’ll be out in a minute.’

He nodded and she shut the door before quickly getting dressed and repacking her bag. She grabbed it but paused before opening the bathroom door. As soon as she went out there, she would be going back to the train station, and then she would be travelling miles and miles away from Adrien, not to see him in person again for another month. Could she really survive that long again?

Tikki came through the door then and smiled at Marinette. ‘Are you ready?’

‘Physically, yes. Mentally, never. What about you?’

The kwami shrugged. ‘I don’t want to be without Plagg either, but we have to go. Paris needs either Ladybug or Chat Noir. And it can’t be Chat Noir right now.’

Marinette nodded. Of course, Tikki was right. She always was. She grabbed her bag and smiled at the kwami. ‘I’m all set.’

Tikki beamed at her and sat on Marinette’s shoulder as they both left the bathroom.

Adrien was stood outside waiting for them, Plagg in a similar position. As soon as he saw Tikki, though, he flew over to her and hugged her.

‘I’ll miss you loads, sugar cube,’ he whispered, probably not wanting Adrien and Marinette to hear. It must have been even harder for the kwamis to be separated than for their human counterparts. They couldn’t be seen on pictures, so they couldn’t see each other over Skype, only hear. The only visual comfort they got were the plushies Marinette had made for them.

‘You, too, stinky sock,’ Tikki whispered back, and the tiny couple shared a small kiss before flying back to their wearer. Tikki reluctantly zoomed back into Marinette’s coin purse, and Plagg into Adrien’s shirt pocket, both kwamis giving each other one last lingering look before disappearing.

Adrien stepped closer to Marinette then and took her hands on his hands. ‘I don’t want you to leave,’ he said, not daring to meet her eyes.

‘I don’t want to go either.’

They stood in silence for a few moments until Adrien registered the sound of a tear hitting the laminate floor of his bedroom. Marinette was crying, and if he didn’t stop her tears, then he would start, too. He cupped Marinette’s face in his hands, lifting it up gently so they were both looking at each other.

As he suspected, she was crying, but she was trying her best to hold her tears back.

‘Please don’t make me go,’ she whispered, her tears falling probably now.

‘Oh, Marinette,’ he said, feeling his own eyes begin to fill up. ‘I don’t want you to. If I could keep you here with me I would, you know I would, but I can’t. Your place right now is in Paris, with your family, with our friends, being Ladybug and saving the day. I don’t want you to go, princess, but you have to.’

Marinette nodded, her tears not ceasing. ‘Doesn’t mean I don’t want to stay.’

Adrien hugged his girlfriend then, hiding his tears in her hair. ‘I know. We’ll be together again soon, I promise. My birthday isn’t far away. It’ll be here before you know it.’

‘Adrien!’ Nathalie shouted from downstairs. ‘You need to be leaving now if Marinette wants to catch her train!’

The blond just closed his eyes and held Marinette a little tighter, but then he let go with a fake smile after a moment. ‘Everything will be fine. Let’s go.’ He took Marinette’s hand and led her out of his bedroom and down the stairs.

Nathalie was waiting in the hallway, a sad smile on her face when she saw the two upset teenagers. ‘I’ll see you again in a month, Marinette.’

The Asian girl nodded. ‘Bye, Nathalie.’

The older woman sighed and rested her hand on Marinette’s shoulder. ‘Let me know if you need anything at all, and I can get one of the Gabriel employees to help you out. And here,’ she handed Marinette a bag of the cookies that Adrien had made but never got round to eating. ‘You should have something for the journey.’

Marinette tried to smile a bit wider. ‘Thank you.’

‘Come on,’ Adrien whispered. He led Marinette out to the car and helped her plug in.

‘It’s okay, I can do it myself,’ she said, but Adrien shook his head with a smile.

‘I know. I just want to do it for you.’

She sat back in her seat with a small smile and let Adrien fasten her seat belt for her and shut the door before he ran around to the other side. He got in, then shuffled over to the middle seat so he was right beside Marinette, like he did on the ride here from the train station on Saturday.

As soon as he was plugged in, he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, and then the Gorilla set off for the train station.

‘Everything will be okay,’ Adrien whispered into his girlfriend’s hair, then pressed a kiss to the top of Marinette’s head. ‘Another month will be nothing. The time will fly by.’

Marinette just nodded, not trusting her voice right now. She only hoped he was right.

They sat in silence for the rest of the short journey, neither of them moving until the car pulled up and the Gorilla grunted.

Adrien let out a shaky sigh and rubbed his hands over Marinette’s arms. ‘We’re here, baby. Let’s get you inside.’

She didn’t say anything, just let Adrien help her out of the car and lead her into the station. He double-checked she had her ticket, triple-checked the platform, then they walked there together. She felt so numb and cold, knowing that she would be leaving her boyfriend behind. She’d already had to do it once. She didn’t know if she was strong enough to do it again.

Adrien stopped suddenly and Marinette looked up. The train was already in the platform. It would leave in a few minutes, not stopping until it pulled into the Gare de Lyon in Paris.

Marinette shook her head and turned to Adrien. ‘I’m not going.’

‘Marinette-’

‘I’m not. You can’t make me.’

Adrien hugged her then, trying his best not to cry. If his girlfriend saw him crying, then he was sure Marinette would do everything in her power to make sure she stayed in Switzerland. ‘You’re right, I can’t. But you have to do it, Marinette. Paris needs you more than I do right now.’

‘But-’

Adrien cut off whatever she was about to say with a kiss. He kept it short, since they were in public, but when he pulled away, Marinette still looked breathless.

He sighed and rested his hands on her shoulders. ‘We will get through this. I promise we will. And soon, you’ll be seeing me every day, because we’ll be living together.’ He kissed her again, then whispered, ‘I love you.’

‘I love you, too, kitty.’

Adrien swallowed down the lump in his throat. ‘Come on, princess. Time to get on the train.’

Marinette nodded and leant up for one last kiss, which Adrien willingly gave to her, then she got onto the train.

She shuffled into the nearest available window seat and spotted Adrien immediately. He was smiling at her, his hand raised in a wave, but Marinette could see the tears in his eyes. He wasn’t okay. She went to get up, but the carriage doors closed with a beep.

She turned back to Adrien, panic on her face, but he just continued to smile, his tears falling now. He knew what he was doing. He knew that if she saw him cry, then she would want to stay even more. And he was completely right. She started to cry, too, and then the train set off, the two teenagers waving at each through their tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette really struggles without Adrien.

**Monday 1 st October**

Nino but his lip as he watched Marinette. It was lunchtime and he was sat in the school courtyard at a picnic table with Alya, Rosé, Juleka, Mylène, Ivan, and Marinette. It must have been hard for her, surrounded by three couples when her boyfriend was so far away.

It had been over a week since Marinette had been to Bern, and she got progressively sadder each day, the bags under her eyes got larger, and her mood deteriorated. Nino was sure Adrien was an attentive boyfriend, but the image on Skype wasn’t always the best. He wouldn’t have noticed. Someone needed to tell Adrien how Marinette was coping. Or rather, not.

Nino pressed a kiss to Alya’s cheek, then he stood up from the picnic bench. ‘I’ll be back in a minute, babe.’

She nodded and he walked across the courtyard towards the toilets. It was empty, so Nino got his phone out and dialled Adrien’s number, hoping his lunch break was at a similar time.

“Nino!” Adrien exclaimed when he answered the phone. “What’s up?”

‘Everything’s cool on my end, but dude, your lady’s seriously sad.’

There was a pause over the line. “Marinette’s sad? Did something happen in class this morning?”

‘No. Marinette’s been like this ever since she spent the weekend at yours, but she hasn’t really spoken about it to any of us whenever we ask her.’

Adrien sighed. “I feel like such an idiot for not noticing. She’s been so happy recently. Or she’s been pretending to at least. I’ll do something, right now, but it might not be so easy.”

‘What do you mean?’

“I’m in Zurich for my class’ cultural studies trip.”

Nino groaned. ‘Ah, my dude, I’m sorry. I completely forgot. If I’d remembered, I would have waited until tomorrow to ring you.’

“No, it’s fine. Thank you for telling me now. I’ll try and do something. Talk to you later, Nino.”

‘Bye, dude.’ Nino hung up, sighed, then left the toilets. He couldn’t fathom what Adrien and Marinette were going through: it would break his heart to be that far away from Alya.

He sat back down at the picnic bench, reclaiming his seat in between Alya and Marinette just as the latter girl’s phone chimed with a notification.

She smiled as she picked it up, but it dropped from her face when she read what was on the screen.

Nino peered over Marinette’s shoulder, his eyes narrowing as he read the text:

_From: Adrien :*_

_I’m having a great time in Zurich, princess! I’ll call you as soon as we get back on the bus. Miss you, baby :*_

Attached was a picture of Adrien stood smiling in front of a cathedral, but Marinette had tears in her eyes as she looked at it.

‘Excuse me,’ she said, then she stood up and all but ran from the table.

‘Marinette!’ Alya shouted as she and Rosé went after her, and Nino got his phone out again.

_To: Adrien_

_I think you made it worse, my dude. Just ring her when you can. She won’t tell us what’s wrong and she looks exhausted._

Adrien replied almost straight away.

_From: Adrien_

_Okay. Thanks, man._

Nino sighed as he put his phone away. He could practically hear the solemn tone in Adrien’s text. He just hoped the couple could sort themselves out.

…

Marinette was curled up on her bed, staring at one the many pictures of Adrien on her wall. She couldn’t tell anyone why she was so upset. Not Adrien, not Tikki, and not Alya. She didn’t want any of them to laugh at her for being stupid, but she didn’t feel as if her fears were completely unfounded.

Adrien had looked so happy in that picture. What if, when he finished high school, he decided to stay in Switzerland? That fear had been niggling at the back of her head ever since she had stayed for the weekend and she had seen how happy her boyfriend was in Switzerland. With every Skype call, he seemed to become more comfortable with his new house and new school and new friends and Marinette was petrified Adrien wouldn’t move back to Paris after the year was up.

Then there was her issue with sleep. Without Adrien beside her, she could only get a couple of hours of sleep, at best.

Whenever her mum went back to China to visit her family, her father always swore that he couldn’t sleep without his wife beside him because once he’d slept with the one he loved, he could never not.

Marinette always thought her dad had been exaggerating for her mother’s sake, but she now knew he was telling the truth: she barely got a wink of sleep without Adrien.

And the final issue that was weighing on her was whether or not she would be going to university. Mlle Bustier had told them to start thinking about where they wanted to attend, but Marinette was unsure. A lot of fashion labels sprung up as a result of a university degree, but they equally started up from sponsorships without the need for a qualification. She didn’t know what to do for the best and it was stressing her out.

Her phone started to ring then, Adrien’s name lighting up the screen. She wouldn’t tell him her worries, not today, not when he looked like he was having so much fun on his school trip. But she had to answer, or he’d know something was up.

‘Hey,’ she said when she accepted the call, making sure to smile as she spoke. ‘How was the trip?’

“Really interesting. I had a good time. We’ve just set off back to Bern now. Did you have a good day?”

‘Yeah, it was great.’

Adrien sighed. “Princess, Nino rung me at lunchtime. I know something’s wrong. He said you look permanently sad and tired. Please tell me what’s going on.”

Marinette bit her lip, then she opened her mouth, about to brush off his worries, but all that came out of her mouth was a sob.

“Marinette? Please tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help if I don’t know.”

She burst into tears then, rambling her three problems down the phone to her boyfriend as quickly as she could, on the verge of hyperventilating when she finished.

“Baby, calm down, please. I can’t hear a word you’re saying. Just take a moment to breathe, okay? I don’t want you to pass out.”

Marinette nodded and concentrated on breathing. She didn’t want to tell Adrien what was wrong, in case it stressed him out and made him say something out of pity. But Adrien wasn’t like that. She could tell him anything.

“You sound calmer now, princess. Now, please tell me what’s wrong. Nino said you cried when you saw the picture I sent you. What was that all about?”

Marinette sighed. ‘I’m just worried that you’ll fall in love with Switzerland and decide not to move back to Paris after high school. I’m not saying you’re not allowed to be happy, that’s what you’re there for, after all. I’m just scared you won’t come home.’

“Oh, princess. You’re my home. I could never not come back to you. And yeah, don’t get me wrong, I love Bern, but I love you one hundred times more. As soon as my last day of school is over, I will be heading back to Paris straight away. You have nothing to worry about.”

‘And you’re not just saying that?’

“I would never just say something to make you feel better, my lady. Okay, what’s next?”

She groaned. ‘It’s really stupid, but I just can’t sleep without you.’

Adrien hummed. “You still have my jumper, right?”

‘Yeah. Why?’

“What do you do with it?”

‘I leave it on my chaise, you know, so it feels like you’re here but you’ve just nipped downstairs to help out in the bakery or something.’

“That’s adorable, Bugaboo. But why don’t you try wearing it to bed instead? It’ll feel like I’m cuddling you then.”

Marinette smiled then, her first real one for a week now. ‘Okay. I’ll try it. Does that mean you wear my jumper to bed?’

Adrien chuckled. “It’s a bit small for me, princess. But I hold it every night in bed. It doesn’t really smell like you anymore, but I snuggle with it anyway. Was there anything else upsetting you?”

‘It’s a bit more serious. Are you sure you want me to tell you about it now?’

“Of course, princess. Please, tell me.”

Marinette took in a deep breath. ‘Okay, so Miss Bustier has asked us to start looking at universities, but I don’t know if I want to go. Fashion brands start with and without degrees. I don’t know if I should go to university, or try to get an internship at a fashion house. It’s such a big decision.’

“Hm, that is a trickier issue, and I can’t give you a straight answer. But whatever you decide, I’ll back you, one hundred percent, and they’ll always be a place for you at _Gabriel_. I guess, for now, apply for universities and also start looking for placements, then you can decide between what you want when it gets closer to the time. How does that sound?”

Marinette sighed. ‘Why didn’t I just ring you earlier, minou?’

He chuckled quietly. “Now, I don’t know the answer the answer to that one, unfortunately. But please tell me whenever you feel upset, no matter how trivial you think it is, okay?”

‘Okay. Thank you for being amazing.’

Adrien laughed. “Anytime, princess.”

‘What time will you get back to Bern?’ she asked, glancing at the clock in her room. Adrien had promised to ring as soon as he was back on the bus and it was already eight PM: it would be a while until he got home.

“I’m not sure. Maybe ten? You should rest, though.”

‘No, it’s fine. I’ll stay up until you get home,’ she said, then let out a yawn immediately afterwards.

Adrien chuckled. “You’re going straight to bed, Mari. Get changed into your pyjamas and put my jumper on. I’ll stay on the line.”

With a smile, Marinette got up from the bed and grabbed Adrien’s black jumper from her chaise longue. It was of just the right thickness, perfect for sleeping in, but combined with her pyjamas, she would be too warm. Maybe she should just wear it with her underwear? She blushed at the thought. Sure, she’d worn only her underwear to bed before when it was very hot in the summer, but this would be different. She had never even considered wearing Adrien’s clothes with just her underwear. Would he mind? Probably not, she mused, considering how flirtatious her boyfriend could be with her.

Without giving it any more thought, Marinette got undressed, save her underwear, then put on Adrien’s jumper. It fell down to her thighs, the soft material brushing against her skin. It felt nice, but it smelt even better. If she closed her eyes, it was like Adrien was here.

“Princess?”

She opened her eyes, slightly surprised when she realised that her cheeks were wet. God, she really did miss Adrien. She shuffled back over to her bed, got in, then picked her phone up. ‘Sorry. I’m in my pyjamas and in bed.’

“Were you crying, baby?”

Marinette laughed quietly. ‘Yeah. As soon as I put the jumper on and smelt you, I just realised how much I missed you all over again.’

Adrien sighed. “I miss you, too, my lady. But for now, I’ll sing you to sleep.”

Marinette giggled and put her phone on loudspeaker. ‘Okay.’

“Are you comfortable?”

‘Yep. Go for it.’

He started to sing to her then. His voice was quiet, probably trying to keep the noise he was making to a minimum since he was on a bus with his classmates, but his singing was still beautiful. The song was in Chinese, and Marinette didn’t know enough words to be able to try and decipher what he was singing, nor did she want to. Her eyes were already drooping closed. She snuggled up into Adrien’s jumper, and breathed in his scent one last time before her eyes finally shut.

The last thing she heard before she fell asleep was, “我好想你.”

…

Marinette yawned as she woke up. The last time she’d had such a good night’s sleep was when she in Switzerland, wrapped up in Adrien’s arms. She smiled to herself. She still wished her boyfriend was here with her, but if sleeping in his clothes that were practically soaked in his scent made her sleep so soundly, she could survive sleeping without him for the time being.

“Good morning, princess.”

She jumped slightly and turned to where her mobile was on her bedside table. She tapped it and the screen lit up, showing that she had been on the phone with Adrien for twelve hours. ‘Adrien? Why didn’t you hang up?’

“I wanted to wake up with you this morning,” he said, his voice much lower and deeper than it usually was since he had just woken up.

Marinette led back down and brought her phone closer to her. ‘You didn’t have to do that. You did sleep, right?’

“Yeah. We got back to Bern at about 10:30. I listened to you sleep the whole way home. Did you know that you squeak and whimper in your sleep?”

Marinette blushed. ‘You’re so embarrassing.’

“Don’t be embarrassed! It’s really cute.”

‘Thanks, Chaton. By the way, what did 我好想你 mean?’

“It’s mandarin for I miss you so much.”

Marinette smiled, her heart warming. ‘I miss you, too. But I think I can survive sleeping with your jumper on. It really feels like you’re here. I slept so well.’

Adrien tutted. “Don’t get too attached to it. Not when you’ll get the real thing in a few weeks time again.”

She giggled. ‘Don’t be jealous. I’d rather have you over your jumper. Was there anything specific you wanted for your birthday, by the way?’ she asked. Her next trip to Bern would be the end of the month for the weekend once again. She and Adrien were going to spend his birthday together on the 30th, and Marinette would get to meet all of Adrien’s new friends at the Halloween party he was hosting at his house.

“Having you spend the day with me is more than enough. But if you really want to get me something, could you make me a Halloween costume? I’ve never been to a Halloween party before and I really want to be a vampire.”

Marinette giggled. ‘I can definitely do that for you. You’ll need to get some fangs and fake blood, though.’

“I will! Thank you!”

She smiled at how goofy her boyfriend was. He was super excited for his first ever Halloween party, as well as the first party he would ever be hosting.

“What are you going as?”

‘It’s going to be a surprise,’ she said with a smirk. ‘I hope you’ll enjoy it.’

She could practically hear Adrien pout over the phone line. “Why won’t you ever tell me what you make until I see it?”

Marinette laughed. ‘Because they’re meant to be surprises for you. It’s not a surprise if I tell you.’

“Fine. I need to get ready for school. Skype when we get home?”

‘Of course. Love you, Adrien.’

“Love you, too, baby.”

Marinette ended the call, then she held her phone to her chest, a big smile on her face. Wearing Adrien’s jumper to bed wasn’t as good as sleeping with him, but if it worked, she could manage. If she could just get through this year, then the rest of her life with Adrien would be so worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila comes looking for Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this a little bit shorter than the other chapters! But it's necessary for the plot ;)

**Monday 22 nd October**

Marinette smiled to herself as she packed away her things. She and Alya were going to hers for lunch so she could show her best friend the Halloween costumes she had made for herself and Adrien. She would be back in Switzerland by next week for her boyfriend’s birthday, and then his first ever Halloween party. She couldn’t have been happier. Well, she could have been happier if she was in Switzerland with Adrien right now.

‘Girl, I just need to talk to Madame Bustier about the homework,’ Alya said as she packed away her own things. ‘I’ll meet you outside the school, yeah?’

‘Sure!’ Marinette grabbed her bag and left the classroom. She didn’t particularly feel like returning to school after lunch, not after she would be showing Alya the Halloween costumes. It would make her think about Adrien, not that he wasn’t always on her mind, but more so than usual. If she started working on Adrien’s costume, then she would want to stay at home and curl up wearing just Adrien’s jumper and her underwear. She had slept wearing that every night, and she may or may not have lounged around in it for extra longer on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and have changed into it in the early evenings once her homework was done. That’s how she and Adrien skyped: using his jumper for sweater paws and trying not to blush knowing that her legs were bare. The jumper didn’t even smell like Adrien anymore. She just liked wearing it because she knew it belonged to him, and because it felt nice. The hem was soft where it rested against her thighs, and part of her occasionally wondered what it would feel like to have Adrien’s hands on her thighs instead.

 _Not that she should be thinking about that at school,_ Marinette internally scolded herself. She shouldn’t really be thinking about it all. It felt odd to be thinking about a boy she had been in love with since she was thirteen in any way that could be deemed as impure. It had started off as a sweet and innocent crush, but now they were seventeen, in a relationship, and planning on moving in with each other. Despite all of it, the very thought of thinking about Adrien in any sexual way seemed odd. Even if she really wanted to think about her boyfriend in that way sometimes.

She shook the thoughts from her head as she bounded down the stairs. She really _should not_ be thinking about this at school. She made her way across the courtyard and out of the school. There were a few of her classmates wandering around, as well as students from other classes, but Marinette zeroed in on someone dithering around on the pavement. It was Lila, and the more Marinette stared at her, she realised that Lila was in the spot where Adrien’s bodyguard would park the car to pick him up and take him home for lunch.

Marinette pressed herself against the wall of the school, hoping that Lila wouldn’t see her. She was wandering around in circles, looking a little crazy, to be honest, but if she kept at it, Lila would eventually see her. It would be okay. Alya would be out in a minute and they could avoid her together and-

‘Marinette?’

She looked up and saw that Lila was stood in front of her. The girl’s eyes were wide, slightly manic, and she was almost a full head taller than Marinette now. ‘H-hi,’ she stammered. It had been a while since she had seen Lila, but had the other girl truly forgotten about everything she had ever done to Marinette?

‘Where’s Adrien?’

‘He’s in Switzerland.’

Lila narrowed her eyes. ‘That’s not true. Tell me where he is!’ she shouted.

‘Why would I lie about it?’ She tried to keep her back straight and her head up, but Marinette could already feel tears forming in her eyes, Lila scared her. She was incredibly manipulative and could get almost anyone to believe anything she wanted. But she had the two things Lila wanted the most: she was Ladybug, and Adrien was her boyfriend. ‘Why would I lie about it?’ she repeated, gathering her strength for what she about to say. ‘Adrien’s my boyfriend.’

Marinette had no time to react before Lila slapped her. The sound resounded in the air around them and a few of the other students looked their way, but before any of them could ask if she was okay, or before Lila could say anything else, Marinette ran around Lila, down the steps, and to the bakery.

She stopped in the doorway of the side entrance that led straight upstairs, leant against the wall, then started to cry. Her cheek stung, but that wasn’t really why she was crying. Yeah, it had hurt, but even after all of these years, she still couldn’t stand up to Lila. She was Ladybug, the hero of all Paris, and she still couldn’t do it.

‘Marinette?’ Tikki asked as she popped her head out of the coin purse. She gasped when she saw Marinette’s bright red cheek. ‘Did Lila do that to you?’

The teenage girl nodded as she sniffed. ‘I still can’t stand up for myself, not even having been Ladybug for five years now. Why am I like this, Tikki?’

Tikki sighed. ‘Not everyone can stand up to bullies. That’s not a bad thing. But you should ring Adrien. He needs to know about this.’

Marinette nodded. She got her phone out of her pocket, but as she unlocked, it rang, Alya’s name on the screen. She answered it and brought her phone up to her ear.

“Girl, I’m stood outside the school. Where did you go?”

‘I’m sorry, I’m at the bakery. I-’

“Are you crying?! What’s wrong?”

‘I… I have period pains,’ she said. After all the excuses she had given to run off and transform, lying was easy. But she still couldn’t stand up to Lila. ‘I think I’m going to stay at home this afternoon. Can you collect some work for me?’

“Of course, girl. Do you want me to come over after?”

‘No, it’s fine,’ she said with another sniff. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?’

“Okay, bye.”

Marinette hung up, but instead of selecting Adrien’s name in her contacts, she went into the bakery. It was fortunately empty of customers, but her mum was behind the counter, icing cupcakes.

She turned around with a smile when she heard the door open, piping bag in one hand, but Sabine frowned when she saw the tears on her daughter’s face. ‘Marinette? What happened?’

‘Nothing really. I have really bad period pains. Can you ring the school and tell them that I won’t be coming in this afternoon?’

‘Of course. Do you want me to get you a hot water bottle and some pain killers?’

‘No, it’s okay. I’ll do it. I’ll be in my room.’

Sabine nodded, still frowning: she hated seeing her daughter cry.

Marinette left the bakery and went upstairs, and as soon as the loft hatch was shut, she got undressed until she was just in her underwear, pulled on Adrien’s jumper, then climbed into bed. Once she was snuggled under the covers, she got her phone out again and dialled Adrien’s number, hoping to god that his lunch break had started.

…

Adrien jiggled his leg as he wrote down notes, but he was barely paying attention to what his teacher was saying. His phone was vibrating on the bench beside him and he desperately wanted to answer but he couldn’t. Marinette had rung him twice now. She normally just rung once, and if he didn’t pick up, she’d text him. Her ringing twice meant something was wrong.

The vibration stopped, but it continued a moment later when Marinette rang him for the third time. Something was _definitely_ wrong.

‘… okay, sorry we ran over a little, but I hope you all enjoy your lunch!’ Mlle Bracker said with a smile, and as the rest of the class all got their food out, Adrien grabbed his phone and practically ran from the room.

He dashed down the corridor and into the toilets, and answered the call on the last ring. ‘Marinette?’ he said, breathless. ‘Sorry, class ran over. What’s wrong, baby?’

She sobbed over the line and Adrien went over to the nearest cubicle. He locked himself inside and Plagg flew out of his pocket.

‘What’s going on?’ he whispered, his tiny brow furrowed.

Adrien shrugged and Plagg pressed his ear to the phone beside Adrien’s.

“I-” Marinette sobbed again. “I’m sorry.”

‘For what, baby?’

“Lila.”

Adrien narrowed his eyes in confusion. He hadn’t seen Lila since April, and it was now October. ‘You’re sorry about Lila? What’s she got to do with this?’

“She was outside school and she was looking for you. Then she saw me and I ended up telling her that you were my boyfriend and she…”

Adrien went completely stiff. Lila was a maniac. She had been akumatised goodness knows how many times and if that didn’t impair her thoughts in some way, then she had become warped in another. Either way, she was dangerous. ‘What did she do?’ he asked through gritted teeth.

“She slapped me,” Marinette whispered, but Adrien still heard what she said.

‘I’m coming back to Paris. Right now.’

“No, it’s fine, it’s fine.”

‘It’s not!’ Adrien shouted, then he took a deep breath in to try and calm down. He was in the school toilets. He couldn’t start shouting here. ‘She can’t just go around slapping people without facing the consequences. You need to ring the police, or tell your parents, or Mr Damocles, at the very least. It’s assault, Marinette. And you have nothing to be sorry for, princess. Why would you even dream about apologising for this?’ he said, voice softer now.

“Because I still can’t stand up to her! I’m fucking Ladybug and I still can’t do it!”

Adrien’s eyes widened. He’d never heard Marinette swear before. This must have really got to her. ‘Marinette, it doesn’t matter if you’re Ladybug. Hell, you could be Ladybug, and Chat Noir, and Rena Rouge, and Hawkmoth, all at the same time, and you still might not be even able to do it.’

Marinette sniffed. “But why can’t I do it, Adrien?”

He could feel his heart breaking at how small and broken his girlfriend sounded. He sat down on the toilet seat and gripped the phone tighter. ‘Because you can’t. And that’s okay. You’ve never been one for confrontation, even as Ladybug. I always saw how you hesitated against akumatised people. Even if you’re more used to it now, Lila is different. Her bullying and lying is personal. You didn’t even know some of the akuma victims, but you know Lila, and you know what she’s done.’

“But what if she comes again? What if she re-joins the school?”

‘You don’t need to worry about that, because as soon as I hang up, I’m ringing Nathalie, and then I’m getting on a train back to Paris.’

Marinette hiccupped. “You can’t do that, Adrien. You need to be in Bern to get better.”

‘But you need me, too.’

“I’ll be fine,” she said with a sniff. “I just needed to tell you about it. But what do I do if she comes again?”

‘Then you walk away, and if she follows you, you either run home, or you surround yourself with our classmates. She won’t do anything when they’re there. But whatever you do, don’t talk to her, and don’t let her anywhere near you. I don’t know what I’ll do if she hurts you again. It’s bad enough to know that she slapped you today, and that you’re still saving Paris everyday and I’m not there to help and protect you. Please, don’t let her anywhere near you,’ he said, finishing in a whisper. Tears were filling his eyes now as he remembered Marinette’s first fight as Ladybug without him, when two men had robbed a shop. They’d had guns, albeit fake, but it had hurt Adrien so much to know that he could do nothing to help her.

“Okay. I’m sorry for having to call you.”

‘Don’t apologise, princess. This isn’t your fault. I have to go and eat my lunch. My break isn’t as long as yours. Text me when you get back to class, okay?’

“I-I’m not going. I’m staying at home. I don’t feel like it.”

Adrien would normally have tried to get his girlfriend to go, but he understood why she didn’t want to return to school today. ‘Okay, baby. Stay at home, get comfy, binge Netflix with Tikki, and I’ll text you as soon as class is out, and Skype you when I get him. I love you, Marinette.’

“I love you, too. Bye, minou.”

‘Bye.’ Adrien hung up with a heavy sigh. Marinette’s visit in October half term really couldn’t come soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Adrien's birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some NSFW things are discussed/mentioned in this chapter, but there's no NSFW action. Idk if action is the correct word tbh, but yeah, no NSFW things actually happen, but they're mentioned.

**Friday 26 th October 2018**

Marinette grinned behind her hand as Mlle Bustier began to round class up. It was the last day of school before October half term, and as soon as school was out, she would be off to the train station and would be spending the entire week with Adrien. Not to mention that they would be spending Adrien’s birthday together on the 30th, then she would get to meet all of his new friends at his Halloween party the day after. She was beyond excited.

Spending a full week together seemed a little overkill for a relatively new couple, but not to Marinette and Adrien. They had only met up once since getting together, and considering they would be living together by next September, a week was nothing.

‘Okay,’ Mlle Bustier said with a smile. ‘I hope you all have a good break. Please remember to do your homework.’

Everyone scrambled to put their books away, but none were quicker than Marinette. Her belongings were in her bag in less than ten seconds, then she gave Alya a quick hug before she was bounding down the steps towards the classroom door.

Chloé stepped in front of her before she could get there, though. But the blonde girl wasn’t smirking at her, nor were her eyes narrowed. She looked rather calm, actually. And in her hands was a wrapped present. ‘Can you give this to Adrien, please?’

Marinette stared at her for a moment before she smiled and took the present. ‘Of course. I’m sure he’ll be happy to receive it. He’s been worried about you.’

Chloé nodded. ‘I know. He rings me every week but I don’t pick up.’

‘You should pick up.’

She just shrugged. ‘I bet he rings you everyday, doesn’t he?’

Marinette nodded. ‘Of course, he does. He’s my boyfriend.’

Tears filled Chloé’s eyes. ‘Just tell him I said happy birthday.’

‘I will.’

Chloé moved to the side then and Marinette moved past her, but when she got to the classroom door, she turned around. Chloé was stood by her desk, but Kim had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, seemingly comforting her.

Marinette’s eyes widened at the sight of them together like that. She knew Kim liked Chloé, but Chloé had always despised him for it. How come she was letting him comfort her like that? She didn’t have time to ask right now, though: she had to go.

She ran out of the room and then out of the school and all the way home. Instead of going in the side door and straight up to her bedroom, though, she went into the bakery where her parents were.

‘Marinette,’ her mum said from behind the counter, then she came around it, pulling her daughter’s pink suitcase behind her. ‘Was your last day okay?’

The teenager nodded. ‘Yeah. I’ve got all my homework for half term in my rucksack. I’ll have to do it at Adrien’s.’

‘I hope that’s the only thing you’ll be doing at Adrien’s,’ her dad, still behind the counter, sounding a little grumpy.

Marinette rolled her eyes and leant across the glass pastry case to kiss her dad on the cheek. ‘We don’t do any of that. Adrien knows you’d murder him if he even tried.’

‘And tell him that will still apply even though he turns eighteen next week.’

‘I will, dad. I’ll see you later.’ She shook her head and went back over to her mum, who pulled her into a hug.

‘Don’t listen to him,’ she whispered. ‘You and Adrien do whatever you want, even it is sex.’

Marinette felt herself go bright red but didn’t say anything, not wanting to alert her dad. She simply pulled away from her mum, grabbed the handle of her suitcase, then left the bakery.

As she walked to the nearest metro station, she popped open her coin purse to check on Tikki. The kwami was led at the bottom, asleep, curled up around her plushie of Plagg. Marinette smiled, then reclosed it. Tikki would eventually wake up because of the motion and noise from the trains, so she would definitely be awake by the time they reached Bern to greet the real Plagg.

She went down into the metro station, and as she travelled on the train to the Gare de Lyon, she took her phone out her pocket and smiled at the picture of Adrien on her screen. Just a few more hours, and they would be back together again. She held her phone to her chest with a happy sigh. A whole week. They had a whole week together. That would probably mean that it would be harder to part at the end of it, but Marinette didn’t care. The heartbreak she would feel at the end would be worth it for the amount of time she would get to spend with her boyfriend this week.

The train pulled up in the underground Gare de Lyon metro station and Marinette got off. As she walked up the stairs into the station however, her phone vibrated against her. She smiled as she checked it, hoping that it was Adrien, but it was a text from Nathalie.

_From: Nathalie_

_I’ve told Adrien that your train got cancelled and you won’t be here until later so you can surprise him. I hope this is okay?_

Marinette’s smile grew and text back that it was fine, and sent it just as she got a text from her boyfriend.

_From: Adrien :*_

_I can’t believe your train’s been cancelled. I can’t wait any longer to see you, baby._

_To: Adrien :*_

_Me neither. I’m really sorry, but we’ll be together soon <3_

She couldn’t help but giggle as she sent the text. She imagined that he was frowning down as he typed, a cute pout on his face. God, she couldn’t wait to see him.

…

Adrien practically dragged himself up the staircase to his bedroom. School had finished a while ago, but he’d stayed late for fencing practice, then did extra, before going out with the Gorilla for a bit. He had originally planned to come home straight after school and skip fencing, but if Marinette was going to be late, then there was no point. He’d tidied his bedroom last night, so there wasn’t anything he could particularly do if he came home early. He was still early now even though it was nearly eleven pm: Marinette’s train was supposed to arrive twenty minutes ago, but now that it had been cancelled, she wouldn’t be here for another hour. And he no idea what to do without her for another whole hour when she should have been in his arms right now.

‘Lighten up, kid,’ Plagg said as he popped his head out of Adrien’s shirt pocket. ‘It’s not like she’s not coming. She’ll be here soon.’

Adrien grumbled. ‘I know, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss her like crazy, though.’

He opened his bedroom door and stopped dead in the doorframe. There, sat on his bed, smiling at him, was Marinette. Was this real? Was he hallucinating? It was late and he’d been up for hours. Could it really be her?

‘Princess?’ he whispered as he stepped into the room, his school bag slipping from his shoulder and landing on the floor, but he didn’t take any notice. ‘Are you really here?’

She stood up from the bed with a giggle. ‘I’m here.’

Adrien ran to her then and gathered her in his arms, one of his hands cupping her face. He wanted to know how she had arrived early, but he wanted something else much more at the moment. ‘I’m going to kiss you now.’

Marinette just nodded, her eyes a little hooded, and let Adrien kiss her. It was soft and sweet, but Adrien was pressing against her lips and body hard, like he was desperate to touch her.

And he was desperate. So desperate. The surprise had been nice, to find her in his bedroom when he thought he would have to wait an age to see her again, but now that she was here, he really needed her.

He walked them over to the wall next to the bed and pushed Marinette against it, then his hands slid down to his girlfriend’s thighs and lifted her up.

Marinette pulled out of the kiss as she wrapped her legs around her boyfriend’s waist and held onto his upper arms. ‘Are you sure you can hold me like this?’

Adrien nodded, his nose brushing against hers.

‘You’ve got stronger,’ she whispered. The room was completely dark and there were only the two of them here, unless they were counting their kwamis. Marinette felt as if she should whisper. This was just between them, even if they were the only two around to listen to it.

‘For you,’ Adrien whispered back, his lips grazing against hers. ‘I wanted to kiss you like this the last time that you were here, but I couldn’t. Now I can.’ He kissed her again, even more desperate. His hands were all over her: on her face, in her hair, on her thighs; never staying in one place for too long.

He pulled away then, breathless, but more because he was overwhelmed with Marinette. ‘Why… How come you’re early?’

‘My train was never cancelled. Nathalie and I just told you that so I could surprise you when you got home.’

Adrien felt tears gather in her eyes. ‘It’s a wonderful surprise, but please… don’t ever do that again. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to wait for you any longer. I was at my breaking point this morning.’

Marinette could see the tears in his eyes in the moonlight from outside the window. ‘Oh, Adrien… I’m so sorry.’

He buried his head in the crook of her neck and kissed the skin there. ‘Don’t apologise. Just stay with me.’

She nodded and ran her fingers through Adrien’s hair. ‘I’m here now.’

He wrapped his arms around her waist and carried her over to the bed. She felt safe like this, wrapped up completely in Adrien’s arms. She could have done with him on the day Lila had been outside school. Not that she would tell him that. It would only make him feel guilty.

‘Please don’t go. Not until the end of the week.’

‘I’m not going anywhere.’

Adrien placed Marinette down on the bed and she looked up at him with wide eyes. He looked taller like this, stronger, and she wanted to scramble back into his arms to let him protect her. From what, she didn’t know, and even though she was capable of protecting herself, she wanted Adrien to be the one to do it. Maybe she was feeling more vulnerable than she thought because of Lila. Before she could move, though, Adrien sat down beside her and took her hands in his, fiddling with her fingers as he looked down at them.

‘I’m sorry for reacting that way. It was a lovely surprise to see you here.’

‘You don’t need to apologise,’ Marinette said, letting her boyfriend play with her fingers. ‘It was nice to be pressed against a wall like that and kissed.’

Adrien chuckled and placed a kiss on Marinette’s knuckles. He didn’t want to be rough with Marinette. She had stopped growing at thirteen but he had continued to get taller, and whilst she was strong enough to lasso herself around Paris, it never showed on her body. She remained thin and lithe, but Adrien was broader and bigger, and he could quite easily do whatever he wanted to her. Not that he would, though, not if she didn’t want to. He would be sweet and gentle with her forever unless she asked otherwise, but part of him just wanted to pin her to the nearest surface and kiss her senseless. And maybe do other things. But he wouldn’t. And he wouldn’t think about that now, either. Not when she was here and their time together was short and precious.

‘We should go to bed,’ Adrien said. ‘It’s late.’

Marinette nodded but made no move to go to where she’d left her suitcase at the foot of the bed.

‘Princess?’

She scooted closer towards Adrien and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘I don’t want to leave you to get changed. Can’t we just sleep like this?’

Adrien didn’t reply verbally. Instead, he slipped off the bed and knelt before Marinette. His hands went to her feet and he gently took off the pink ballet pumps before he carefully took her ankles and lifted her legs onto the bed.

Marinette smiled as she watched Adrien as he walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in beside her. The cuddled together under the sheets, still in their normal clothes, and they were just about to drift off when Plagg poked his head out of Adrien’s shirt pocket.

‘I’m sorry to interrupt,’ he whispered, a tiny frown on his small face, ‘but I really want to see Tikki.’

Marinette sleepily fumbled with her coin purse and a moment later, Tikki flew out. The two kwamis briefly embraced above them and then they flew into the bathroom, presumably to greet each other properly.

Adrien hummed and kissed the top of his girlfriend’s head. ‘They’re so cute.’

‘We’re cuter,’ Marinette whispered, then promptly fell asleep.

The blond boy chuckled and pressed another kiss to Marinette’s head. She was the cute one between them.

…

**Saturday 27 th October 2018**

Adrien woke up first with a quiet groan. Sleeping in jeans was _not_ a good idea. But sleeping with Marinette… he smiled as he looked down at her. Her pigtails were all messed up and hair was strung across her face. She was so adorable.

He began to move the hair out of Marinette’s eyes and they fluttered open and Adrien couldn’t help but place a kiss on her forehead.

‘There’s my baby,’ he whispered and Marinette let out a quiet giggle.

‘Good morning,’ she whispered and snuggled into his chest. ‘What do you want to do today?’

‘Nothing. Let’s just lie here all day.’

‘I hate to break it to you, but I will need cheese at some point,’ a voice said.

Adrien groaned and shut his eyes. ‘Plagg...’

The black kwami began to pull on Adrien’s hair and the boy batted him away. ‘Go away…’

Marinette giggled again. ‘We should get up. Come on.’

He sighed but let go of Marinette and sat up in the bed. When he saw the kwami floating in front of him, he glared at Plagg. ‘Happy now?’

‘No, I want cheese.’

Adrien swung his legs over the bed and opened the middle drawer to his bedside cabinet to where he stored the emergency camembert. ‘Go crazy.’ He shook his head as he watched Plagg dive into the cheese. He really needed to install a mini fridge in here or soon, his whole bedroom would start to smell.

He felt hands on his back then and he turned his head to see that Marinette was sat behind him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders. She smiled at him. ‘You really have got stronger.’

‘Is that okay?’ he asked. If his father were still around, he would probably berate him for losing his slim model body in favour of becoming broader to accommodate muscles. But he didn’t need to seek that man’s approval anymore.

Marinette hummed. ‘It’s hot.’

Adrien smirked. ‘You know, you say a lot of incriminating things when you’re sleepy. You would never call me hot when you’re wide awake.’

She giggled and sat closer to her boyfriend. ‘Fair point.’

‘What else do you like?’

‘I’m not telling you now that you’ve pointed it out!’

Adrien laughed and lifted Marinette around his body so she was sat on his lap. ‘Tell me, baby. Do you like it when I kiss you?’

Marinette nodded, a light blush on her cheeks. ‘Of course.’

‘What’s your favourite way for me to kiss you?’

His girlfriend rested her head on his shoulder as she squeaked. ‘No. It’s too embarrassing.’

Adrien rocked Marinette back and forth slightly. She was so pliant like this, half-asleep and slightly drowsy. ‘Please, Princess? For me?’

She didn’t say anything immediately, and Adrien wasn’t sure she was going to reply until his girlfriend began to whisper. ‘Last night… when you pushed me against the wall. I liked that. You’re stronger than me… you could do anything you wanted to me. But you don’t. I love you.’

Adrien smiled and wrapped his arms around Marinette. ‘Thank you for trusting me to tell me that, baby.’

‘Did you like kissing me like that?’ she whispered, her lips almost against his neck.

‘Yes. I…’ He was too awake and aware to tell Marinette that every time he saw her that he wanted to pin her to a wall and do whatever he wanted to her. But she had trusted him. He had to trust her back. ‘I like kissing you like that. I really like it. I always want to hold you down and kiss you so you can’t escape. If you said stop I would, you know I would, but I just…’

Marinette rose up her head then. She was blushing like crazy and couldn’t meet his eyes. ‘Does it… turn you on?’

Adrien tightened his grip on her waist then. ‘Yes.’

She nodded. ‘Me, too.’

The blonde’s fingers twitched on his girlfriend’s waist. He hadn’t expected their conversation to take a turn quite like this, but he was glad it did. He was worried they would never get around to talking more about sex with how embarrassed Marinette got. He would have to do it either very early in the morning or very late at night until she got more confident discussing it.

Marinette rose out of his lap then. ‘We should get changed. And I need to unpack.’

Adrien nodded as he stood up, too, noticing that Plagg had left but that the cheese drawer was still open. ‘Okay. I’m going to go for a shower. I cleared some space in my wardrobe for you. You can hang your clothes up in there.’

Marinette nodded and shuffled on the spot slightly. She was probably still flustered from before. He took her hands in his and placed a light kiss on her lips. ‘I love you,’ he whispered. ‘Don’t be so embarrassed. I’m happy that you told me that.’

She nodded. ‘I love you, too,’ was all she said, too shy to address the rest of his sentence, but it was a start.

He grabbed a change of clothes from his wardrobe then went into his ensuite. Plagg and Tikki were sat in the soap dish; the black kwami eating camembert, the red one nibbling on a macaroon she had probably taken out of Marinette’s coin purse at some point this morning.

‘Are you okay to eat in my room? I really want to shower.’

Tikki flew out of the room with a smile, but Plagg stayed for a moment. ‘So… did you and Marinette finally have… the talk?’

Adrien glared at his kwami. ‘I am not talking to you about sex, Plagg.’

‘You’re grumpy, so I’m going to go ahead and take that as a no.’

The blond rolled his eyes. He often talked to Plagg about his love life, sometimes including all of the things he wanted to do to and with Marinette on the days where he was feeling confident, but he was really regretting it now. ‘For your information, we did talk a little. But she’s shy, and a few months younger than me. I’m not expecting Marinette to just stand in front of me and tell me word for word when she wants to have sex with me and what exactly she wants to do yet. Now please leave.’

‘So you can masturbate?’

‘Plagg!’

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m going.’ The kwami left and Adrien slammed the door behind him. Why couldn’t he have been given Tikki and not Plagg as his kwami? She didn’t seem as half as intrusive. Then again, Adrien had told Plagg about his want to have sex with Marinette. It was technically his own fault. He just wished the little bugger wouldn’t bring it up every time Marinette was here.

He dumped his clothes by the stack of towels, then got undressed and stepped into the shower. He was slightly turned on; he couldn’t help it when Marinette had been straddling him like that whilst admitting she liked it when he held her down. But he wasn’t going to masturbate. Plagg would know if he did, somehow, and he would tell Marinette. And wouldn’t that just make the rest of this week splendidly awkward.

As soon as he was done, and thankfully, no longer turned on, he dried himself off, got changed, and went back into his bedroom. Tikki and Plagg were sat on his pillow, the black kwami still eating. Marinette was nowhere in sight.

‘Where is she?’

‘With Nathalie,’ Tikki said.

Adrien narrowed his eyes. ‘Why?’

‘She’s hiding her Halloween costume from you.’

He groaned and sat down by Tikki. ‘Please will you tell me what she’s going as? She won’t give me any clues.’

Tikki giggled as she shook her head. ‘You’ll have to wait to find out.’

Marinette came back into the room then, a cheeky grin on her face, and Adrien stood up from the bed. ‘Let me see your costume.’

She shook her head, then looked over at Tikki. ‘You didn’t tell him what it was, did you?!’

‘Of course, not!’

Adrien groaned and practically fell down onto the bed. ‘What can I do to make you tell me?’ he asked, looking up at where Marinette was stood, noticing that she had changed her clothes.

‘You can wait until Halloween.’

He groaned again but his girlfriend only laughed and sat down by him, running her fingers through his hair. ‘What did you have planned today?’

‘Finding out what your Halloween costume was,’ he grumbled.

Marinette leant down and placed a kiss on his forehead. ‘Well, that’s not going to happen. What else?’

Adrien shrugged. ‘I don’t mind just sitting in here with you all day.’

She smiled down at him. ‘Can I do my homework at the same time?’

He rolled his eyes, remembering he had his own half term homework to complete. ‘Yeah. Let’s do it together.’

…

**Tuesday 30 th October 2018**

Adrien and Marinette had hurried through their homework, wanting it to be completed before his birthday and the Halloween party, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t somewhat enjoy doing his homework with Marinette. When they’d first met, Marinette had been too shy around him to properly talk to him, but after that first year of knowing each other, which was also their first year of being Ladybug and Chat Noir, she had become friends with him, and they had formed a sort of study cum friendship group with Alya and Nino. They would do homework together at lunch times in the school library, since after school round at one of his friend’s houses was pretty much a no go for Gabriel. But oddly enough, Adrien had missed doing his homework with Marinette.

He’d also be lying if he hadn’t enjoyed all of this time they had spent with each other. They’d settled into a comfortable routine of waking up in each other’s arms, showering (separately, much to Plagg’s dismay), eating breakfast together, then doing homework and helping each other where possible. Adrien especially liked it, though, whenever he went to get clothes out of his wardrobe. It sounded odd, but every time he opened his wardrobe, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Marinette’s clothes hanging beside his, the pink and purple beside white and black. It just served to remind him that, if they got through this year, and they would, waking up beside each other every morning and their clothes folded up together would soon be their new normal.

He’d be lying even more if he said he didn’t _really_ enjoy the way Marinette woke him up that morning, pressing kisses all over his face in between singing happy birthday to him.

The blond opened his eyes with a chuckle and saw Marinette above him, Tikki and Plagg floating at either side of her head. However, his girlfriend was straddling his hips, and if he didn’t get her off him, then this would be an incredibly embarrassing start to his eighteenth birthday.

‘Thank you, princess.’ He leant up and kissed her on the tip of her nose, then put his hands on her waist. ‘Do you mind getting off me for a second? I just need to run to the bathroom.’

Plagg smirked. ‘Oh, yeah?’

‘Shut it.’

Marinette got off him and Adrien went into his ensuite, trying to be as discreet as possible as he walked so his girlfriend wouldn’t see his problem. Once in the bathroom, he leant against the door and waited patiently until his arousal disappeared, then went back into the bedroom.

‘Is everything okay?’ his girlfriend asked and he smiled at her, trying not to look at how he could see the outline of her nipples through her shirt and- Jesus fucking Christ Adrien Agreste this was not the time to be thinking about this. He tried to keep the thoughts he had about Marinette in those kinds of situations with him in a separate part of his mind when she was here with him, but it was proving to be a challenge this morning.

‘Yeah. Sorry about that.’ He climbed back into bed and Marinette straddled him once more, and he noticed that there were two presents on the bed. The larger of the two was wrapped in red and black spotty paper, and the smaller one was green. ‘You didn’t need to get me two. Or one. Being with here with me is enough.’

‘Well, one isn’t actually from me. It’s from Chloé.’

Adrien’s eyes widened. ‘Really?’

‘On the last day before the break, she asked me to give it to you. I told her that she should pick up when you ring her, too, but she still seems kind of shaken with your leaving. You are her oldest and closest friend.’

Adrien nodded as he picked up Chloé’s present. ‘Do you mind if I open this one first?’

‘Not at all,’ Marinette said with a smile and watched Adrien rip off the wrapping paper, but she frowned when she saw that Adrien now had tears in his eyes as he looked at the present. ‘Kitty?’

The present fell to his lap and Marinette looked down at it and gasped. It was a DVD of _Solitude,_ the film that Adrien’s mother had starred in. ‘I thought your father had the only copy,’ she whispered.

Adrien nodded. ‘He did. I couldn’t find it after he went to prison or when we moved. But one of Chloé’s relative produced the film. Of course, they had a copy…’ he started to cry then and Marinette moved the DVD to one side before she gathered Adrien in her arms.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. This just means you can watch it at any time. Your mum can always be with you now.’

He nodded as he sobbed into Marinette’s shoulder, then he pulled away suddenly. He reached for his phone on the bedside table and dialled Chloé’s number before he put it on loudspeaker between them.

Adrien held his breath as he listened to it ring. She had to pick up. It was his birthday. And she couldn’t not pick up now after giving him a present like that.

To his relief, on the fifth ring, Chloé answered. “Hello?” she said, her voice all groggy: she had obviously just woken up, and the only reason she had answered was probably because she was too tired to be able to read the caller ID on her phone screen.

‘Chloé, it’s Adrien.’

There was a pause over the line. “I’m hanging up now,” she said.

‘No! Don’t! Please…’ Adrien sniffed.

“Have you been crying? Adrien, it’s your birthday. You shouldn’t be crying on your birthday. Did Marinette make you cry? I swear I’ll kill her if she did.”

‘No, she’s here with me.’

‘Hi, Chloé.’

The blonde girl huffed: she was waking up now. “Why are you crying then?”

‘Because of your present. Thank you, Chloé. You have no idea how much this means to me.’

“It’s whatever, Adrien. But happy birthday,” she added on the end in a whisper before she promptly hung up.

Marinette wiped away the rest of her boyfriend’s tears. ‘You okay now?’

He nodded. ‘Yeah. I just wasn’t expecting… that today.’ He reached for Marinette’s present then. ‘Can I open yours now?’

‘Yes, as long as you don’t cry. Chloé’s right: you shouldn’t be crying on your birthday.’

Adrien chuckled and opened Marinette’s present. Beneath the wrapping paper was a pink jumper, identical to the one she had made just after he left, right down to the green paw and ladybird shell embroidery on the sleeve. Except this jumper was several sizes bigger and smelled exactly the same as Marinette.

‘You said you wouldn’t be able to fit into any of my clothes, so I made another jumper, but bigger so you could wear it. And I’ve been wearing it for the past week or so, so it would smell like me, too.’ She bit her lip. ‘Do you like it?’

Adrien pulled the jumper on and kissed Marinette on the lips. ‘I love it, and I love you, I love you, I love you. You’re the best.’

There was a knock on the door then, and a moment later, Nathalie and the Gorilla came into the room, holding a few presents in their hands. The Gorilla had got Adrien some football tickets with the hope that they could go together even though Adrien had never really been into football, but he enthusiastically accepted. And Nathalie had bought him some books on the history and culture of Switzerland since Adrien seemed to be really getting into his cultural studies classes.

‘Breakfast will be served in ten minutes,’ Nathalie said. ‘And I was planning on taking you both out shopping and then for a birthday lunch in town, if that’s alright with you.’

Adrien nodded, but Marinette hummed. ‘Actually, I think just you and Adrien should go. I have something I want to do.’

Nathalie nodded and she and the Gorilla left the room, then Adrien turned to his girlfriend, who had remained sat on his lap. ‘What do you want to do?’

She smirked. ‘It’s none of your business. Come on, let’s get dressed.’

They both got ready for the day, and Adrien kept on his brand new jumper, before they went downstairs for breakfast. When they had finished eating, Adrien went to the front door and put on his coat and shoes, as did Nathalie and the Gorilla, and Marinette watched them from the bottom of the staircase.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to come?’ Adrien asked.

‘I’m sure. I’ll see you when you get back.’ She kissed him on the cheek, a light smirk on her face.

‘Alright. See you later.’ He left the house and climbed into the car, his two guardians sat in the front, Nathalie singing softly to the radio. Adrien liked his new family. Well, it wasn’t strictly speaking new, since Nathalie and the Gorilla had been there before, but he liked the new dynamic between them, where they were actively taking care of him rather than passively to help soothe his father’s ego and villainous habits.

‘Where do you want to go shopping?’ Nathalie asked with a glance over her shoulder.

‘The bookshop,’ Adrien said. He had a brief flip through the books Nathalie had given him and he wanted one about France, too. He really was enjoying his cultural studies class.

A few minutes later, the Gorilla pulled up outside one of the bookshops in Bern, and Adrien and Nathalie climbed out before the Gorilla drove off.

‘I told him to meet us at a café at half eleven,’ she said. ‘I’ll text him the address.’

Adrien nodded and they went into the bookstore together. He went straight for the history and culture section, and Nathalie hovered by the romance department, browsing the titles. In all the time he had known her, which was over a good five years now, Nathalie had never had a romantic relationship, or, at least, not that he had known of. He had thought at one point she might have had feelings for his father, but she had never acted upon them. She deserved to be with someone who truly loved her, but she had more responsibilities now. She was Adrien’s legal guardian, and the proxy CEO of _Gabriel._ It wasn’t as if she had time to date anyone. And if she did date someone, how would that change their family dynamic?

He shook the thoughts from his head and found the book he wanted, then they walked through the centre of Bern towards a café Nathalie had picked.

It was small and cosy, with glass windows and a pastry case at the front. It reminded him of Marinette’s little bakery. They went inside, the Gorilla already sat at a table, and joined him.

As soon as they ordered their food, Adrien smiled at Nathalie. ‘Thank you for bringing me out for lunch.’ His father had never done this for him, birthday or otherwise. Or just go out in general with him, actually.

‘It’s alright. You deserve a treat. But I wanted to talk to you about something.’

Adrien rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t want to talk about sex. I know the age of consent. It’s fifteen in France, and sixteen here. End of conversation.’

Nathalie laughed. ‘If I wanted to talk to you about sex, I would do it at home. But I did need to talk to you about your age.’

‘My age?’

‘As of today, your eighteenth birthday, I am no longer your legal guardian.’

Adrien’s eyes widened. He hadn’t been expecting her to say that. ‘What?’

‘After your father went to prison, I became your legal guardian, but only until you turned eighteen, as you are now an adult. The same goes for _Gabriel._ As of today, I am no longer the CEO. You are. Taking these things into account, I will take the next two weeks to transition the staff at the fashion house in Paris to get used to being under your command, then I will sign the company over to you and move out.’

The blond boy shook his head. He couldn’t be the CEO of a company whilst still at school and whilst being Chat Noir. He could barely juggle the school and superhero aspects of his life, let alone being a CEO. ‘Nathalie… I can’t. I can’t handle that kind of responsibility yet. I’m still in school. And I don’t even know the first thing about running a fashion house, nor if I want to run it. And if I did take over one day, I had always planned on having you as my assistant. Isn’t there a way to keep you in charge until I make up my mind about what I want? And I don’t want you to move out either. No way. You’re part of my family now. Please, there has to be another way.’

‘I can remain in charge at _Gabriel_ , but legally, you are the CEO. You can choose for me to remain in charge, but you will need to make some decisions and sign paperwork occasionally until you decide to either sell the company or take over completely when you leave school. As for me not moving out…’ A strained and nervous look overcame Nathalie’s face. ‘Are you sure? I’m not your mum, nor do I bare any relation to you at all. You have no duty to continue to house me.’

‘I’m not doing this because I feel duty bound, Nathalie. You’re the closest thing to a mum I’ve had since I was twelve. Please stay with me.’

She smiled then. ‘If that’s what you truly want, then I will.’

Adrien let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. ‘That’s what I want.’

The waitress came over with their food and the three of them began to eat, all silent now. Adrien felt as if he had dodged a bullet. He was nowhere near ready to no longer have a guardian. It’s not that he couldn’t look after himself. He could cook and clean and knew how to manage his money, but he had never considered that when he turned eighteen that he would lose Nathalie. When everyone else became adults, they would still have their parents around in some capacity, whether it was looking after them, or just being there for them. After years of neglect from his father, he needed Nathalie to be around him or he’d go crazy, thinking that he had done something to wrong all of the adults in his life.

As for _Gabriel,_ he had no idea what to do with it. As much as he despised his father now, he didn’t want to put all of his hard work to waste and just sell the company. But at the same time, Adrien knew nothing about fashion past modelling. Maybe he should just give the company to Marinette? She’d already told him that she was unsure about whether she should go to university to study fashion or try to get an internship. Wouldn’t this be a good solution for both of them? But then again, Adrien didn’t know what he wanted to after school either. He really needed to think this through more.

As soon as they were finished eating, they all got back into the car and the Gorilla drove them back to their house. What on earth had Marinette been doing? He was kind of excited, but also nervous. She had been quite sneaky lately.

When they entered the house, Adrien shucked off his coat and shoes then went upstairs, the only thing he was holding was the carrier his book was in.

‘Marinette?’ he called.

‘I’m in here!’ she shouted from inside his bedroom.

‘Can I come in?’

‘Of course!’

Adrien opened the door then, and the bag fell out of his hands. His bedroom was mostly dark, bar the afternoon light coming in through the windows, his three-screen computer monitors, and a few candles on the bedside tables. But they just served to illuminate Marinette, who was sat in the centre of the bed, her Ladybug costume on, and Plagg sat on her shoulder.

‘My lady…’

She smiled at him. ‘Did you enjoy your lunch?’

He just nodded, mouth going dry. He hadn’t seen Marinette in person as Ladybug since getting together and she looked so good. The costume hugged every single one of her curves and he forced himself to look away from her body and up at her face to stop from getting aroused for the second time today. ‘What’s all this?’ he said, stepping into the room and having enough sense to shut the door behind him to stop Nathalie or the Gorilla from finding out that his girlfriend was Ladybug.

‘Well, I know you fell in love with Ladybug before you fell in love with me, so I thought what better way to spend your birthday than with her? Even though we’re exactly the same. I thought we could watch a film together.’

‘Will you watch _Solitude_ with me?’ Adrien asked as he grabbed the DVD from where he’d left it on his bedside table.

‘Are you sure?’ Ladybug asked, her eyes wide behind the mask. ‘It’s got your mum in it. Do you not want to watch it alone?’

Adrien shook his head. ‘No. I want you to see it. You’ll never get to meet my mum. This will be the closest you’ll get.’ He sat down beside her. ‘And I think she would have really liked you.’

Ladybug smiled. ‘I’m sure I would have liked her, too, if she was anything like her amazing son.’

With a bright smile, he went over to the computer and loaded the CD into the DVD player, then went back over to the bed and sat with his Lady in his arms.

‘Are there any more surprises in store for me today?’ Adrien whispered as the opening titles played.

‘My dad’s couriered over a birthday cake for you and Nathalie’s ordering pizza for dinner. Is that alright?’

Adrien leant down and kissed Ladybug on the lips. ‘It’s perfect.’ He settled against the headboard with a smile and focused on the film.

Best birthday ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Adrien's first Halloween party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long! But it's because it's 20 pages long in a word document, and it's also NSFW! I hope the wait has been worth it :D

**Wednesday 31 st October**

Adrien, Marinette, and Nathalie were in the living room, hanging up Halloween decorations for the party. There were cobwebs pinned to the walls, and paper spiders hung down from the ceiling at varying lengths. In the middle of the room, on a circular table, was a punch bowl filled with an orange liquid that was a mixture of water and different juices, and surrounding the bowl were various plates of Halloween pastries that Tom had couriered over with Adrien’s birthday cake. There were skeleton cake pops, graveyard brownies, mini pumpkin pies, bat truffles, and ghost cupcakes. It all looked great.

All that was left to do, apart from get changed, was to finish hanging the “Happy Halloween” banner above the fireplace. Adrien and Marinette were at each side of it, holding it in place as Nathalie stood by the living room door opposite, umming and ahhing as she got them to move it in every which way until she deemed it to be perfect.

After ten minutes, Adrien groaned. ‘Come on, Nathalie. Our arms are hurting.’

His guardian just laughed. ‘I think there’s fine. Pin it in place.’

They did as she said, then the two teenagers jumped off the settees they’d been stood on to put up the banner, and went upstairs to get ready.

‘You seem to be getting on okay with Nathalie,’ Marinette whispered as they ascended the stairs.

Adrien nodded. He had told Marinette just before they went to bed last night about what Nathalie had told Adrien at lunchtime. ‘I was worried she might feel like she didn’t belong here anymore,’ he whispered back, ‘but she seems happier than usual.’

Marinette smiled and they went into Adrien’s bedroom. She sat on Adrien’s bed whilst he went into the bathroom to get changed into the vampire costume she had made for him.

Once the door was shut, Marinette curled up on the bed and Tikki flew out of her pocket.

‘What’s wrong?’ the kwami asked.

‘I’m just worried that Adrien won’t like my costume. What if he thinks it’s too much?’

Tikki shook her head with a smile. ‘There’s no way he won’t like it. He won’t be able to take his eyes off you.’

In the bathroom, Plagg was sat on top of the medicine cabinet, a smirk on his small face. ‘Are you excited to see Marinette’s costume?’

Adrien hummed as he buttoned up the white shirt Marinette had made for him, already wearing black dress pants and black dress shoes. ‘Of course.’ The blond man looked up at his kwami then. ‘Wait. Do you know what it is?’

‘Nope. Tikki’s been sworn to secrecy.’

Adrien sighed as he picked up the blood red cloak and slung it around his shoulders. ‘I guess I’ll find out what it is soon.’

‘That’s the spirit.’

He tied the cloak in place then opened the door. ‘Can you help me with my fangs and the fake blood?’ he asked Marinette.

She got up immediately and Tikki followed her into the bathroom. She carefully slotted the plastic fangs into place in Adrien’s mouth, then painted the fake blood around his eyes and mouth with a makeup brush.

‘Thank you, Bugaboo,’ Adrien said when she was done, his voice slightly muffled by the fangs.

Marinette giggled. ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to kiss me with those in.’

Adrien tried to chase her lips but Marinette dodged out of the way. ‘You can try again later. People will start arriving soon and you need to set up Skype.’

He grumbled. ‘Fine. And what will you be doing?’

‘Getting ready. In Nathalie’s room. So you definitely can’t come in.’

‘Please don’t make me wait long. The anticipation is killing me.’

Marinette giggled again and kissed the corner of Adrien’s mouth. ‘I won’t. Could you also have Tikki in your pocket at the party? My costume has no pockets.’

Adrien nodded and the two kwamis flew into his shirt pocket. Marinette’s costume had no pockets. That narrowed it down significantly. It was probably a dress. Those didn’t usually have pockets, right? ‘I’ll see you down there.’

He let the bathroom and the bedroom, then went downstairs. He grabbed his tablet from the settee and mirrored it on the television before he set up Skype. He called Alya, but Nino picked up and they both grinned at each other. Not everyone could afford the train tickets to Bern just for the sake of Adrien’s first Halloween party, so the agreed to Skype all night: Adrien and Alya’s parties connected over the internet.

‘Dude!’ Nino shouted, a big smile on his face and dressed up as a pirate. Since moving to Switzerland, Adrien and Nino had spoken on the phone a lot, and still sent each other texts regularly, but had never Skyped. This was their first time seeing each since he left. ‘It’s good to see you. You look well. Or, as well as you can be, with blood on your face.’

Adrien laughed. ‘Cheers.’

The doorbell rang then, and Adrien hurried to answer it before the Gorilla got there. Nathalie had dressed him up as Frankenstein’s monster. It was very realistic, she’d done a good job with the makeup, but it was a little too scary.

He yanked the front door open to reveal Noah, dressed as Harry Potter, his girlfriend, Mia, dressed as a flapper girl, and his twin sister, Noelle, dressed as a shark.

‘Noah!’

‘Adrien!’ the other boy exclaimed back, his eyes wide as he saw the inside of the hallway. ‘Your pad is super cool, man.’

The blond let out a nervous laugh. This was the first time any of his friends had been round to his house. He’d been kind of reluctant to invite them over. Even though he’d picked a modest house that was big enough for him, Nathalie, and the Gorilla to live in, it would be glaringly obvious that he came from a family of money, and it would also be very obvious that neither Nathalie nor the Gorilla were related to him. Hopefully, beneath the make up and costumes, no one would be able to tell. ‘Thanks. Come in.’

The three teenagers followed Adrien into the living room, and now joining Nino on the television was Alya, who was dressed up as Ladybug, and in the background sat on the settee, was Ivan, dressed as Superman, and Mylène as Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

‘Hey, Adrien,’ Alya said with a smile, and the blond boy introduced his Swiss friends to his French ones.

As the night went on, more of his old friends turned up to Alya’s party, including Rose, dressed as a fairy, Juleka, dressed as a butterfly, Max as a mad scientist, and Nathaniel as a wolf; and more of Adrien’s new friends arrived, but there was still no sign of Marinette coming downstairs to join everyone.

‘What is she doing up there?’ Adrien asked as he came out into the hallway.

The Gorilla and Nathalie, dressed as a witch, were just shutting the door, having just handed out some sweets to children who were trick or treating.

‘Who are you talking about?’ Nathalie asked.

‘Marinette. The party started an hour ago but she still hasn’t come down.’

Nathalie frowned. ‘I’ll go and check on her.’ She handed the bucket of sweets to the Gorilla and went upstairs.

He would have gone himself, but he had a feeling that he’d only be told to go away if he went up.

He went back into the living room and wandered over to the television. He could see the full span of Alya’s living room now that no one was by Alya’s laptop camera, and Marc had just walked in, dressed as Red Riding Hood, and Nathaniel looked just about ready to pounce on him, similar to the wolf he was dressed up as.

Adrien turned to his side with a grin, about to tell Marinette that she should try and get Marc together with Nathaniel when she returned to France, but he frowned when she wasn’t at his side. He had grown so used to her being within arms reach this week. He would miss her when she returned home on Sunday. He was missing her now and she was only upstairs. God, he was going to be a mess at the end of the week.

…

Nathalie knocked on her bedroom door. ‘Marinette?’ she called softly, and a moment later, the door unlocked and opened a crack.

‘Is Adrien there?’ she asked, her voice as timid as the time they had first ever spoken. That had been Adrien’s birthday and Marinette had dropped off a present for him. She had remembered when his own father hadn’t.

‘No, he’s downstairs. But he’s a little concerned. You’ve been up here a while now.’

Marinette sighed and opened the door fully so Nathalie could see her. ‘I’m just nervous. What if he doesn’t like my costume? And what if his friends hate me?’

Nathalie’s eyes widened when she saw Marinette’s outfit. ‘Okay, firstly, there is no way that Adrien will hate your outfit. I don’t think he’s going to be able to speak when he sees you for at least five minutes. And secondly, it doesn’t matter if they don’t like you. If anyone of them says or does something rude to you, Adrien will have thrown them out of the house within a split second. You are his whole world.’ Nathalie leant against the doorframe with a smile. ‘You’re all he talks about, Marinette.’

‘Really?’

Nathalie nodded. ‘Really.’ She gave Marinette’s costume a glance over again, then stepped into the room and grabbed one of her lipsticks from the dresser. ‘Here. This will really finish it off.’ She applied the product to Marinette’s lips and the older woman smiled. ‘There. You look perfect.’

Marinette returned her smile. ‘You’re a great mum to Adrien. He really loves you.’

Nathalie blushed. ‘You think so? I don’t even really know what I’m doing. I guess I’m glad in a way that he isn’t so young that I have to really bring him up and teach him things.’

‘What do you mean?’ Marinette asked with a frown. ‘From what he’s said, you’re the one who brought up Adrien ever since his mum died. And now you’re here for him, giving him support whenever he needs it. He really appreciates everything you’ve done for him.’

Nathalie smiled. ‘Thank you for letting me know how he feels.’ Then she laid a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. ‘Now stop stalling and go and join the party. You’re going to give Adrien an aneurism if you make him wait any longer.’

Marinette giggled. ‘Okay.’

…

‘Where’s Marinette?’ Alya asked, peering around Adrien so she could see the rest of the room.

Adrien’s shoulders drooped as he sighed. ‘She’s still upstairs getting ready. What on earth could be taking her so long?’

Alya looked as if she was about to reply, but then the girl’s mouth fell open and the chattering from Adrien’s friends ceased.

‘Alya?’ the blond boy asked, but all the French girl could do was point at a spot behind Adrien, about where the living room door was.

He turned around, and there, in the doorway, was Marinette. Dressed as Chat Noir. She was clad head to toe in a tight leather cat suit that seemed to hug her curves more than Ladybug costume ever did. Instead of boots that had silver caps, though, Marinette had on a pair of small black heels. Adrien’s eyes trailed upwards then, and he realised that the costume fastened up with a zip down the centre of her chest, which was connected to a golden bell. The zip hadn’t been done all the way up, though. When Adrien was Chat Noir, the bell rested at his collarbones, practically at the base of his neck. But on Marinette’s costume, the bell was nestled just at the top of the swell of her breasts and Adrien felt his mouth go dry. He lifted his gaze even more and found that his girlfriend was wearing red lipstick, and then a second later, their eyes met.

He had always known that his girlfriend was gorgeous, but this… _this…_ dear god, he needed to get his body under control if he didn’t want to embarrass himself. He managed to swallow what little saliva he had left in his mouth and walked over to Marinette.

She smiled as Adrien approached, and the anxiety faded from her eyes. He had spent quite a while staring at her. But from the look on his face, it was quite clear he liked her costume and he wasn’t judging her. Not that he would ever judge her. He would never do that.

He rested his hands on her waist as soon as he was close enough and pulled her to him. ‘You look… amazing, baby,’ he whispered. ‘I understand why you didn’t tell me what your costume was now. The suspense was definitely worth it.’

Marinette smiled. ‘I’m glad.’ She broke out of the small bubble that had seemed to have formed around them from the moment she stepped into the room and saw all of Adrien’s friends for the first time. ‘Are you going to introduce me?’

‘Hm? Oh, right.’ Adrien cleared his throat, then wrapped one arm around Marinette’s waist as he took her around the room to each of his friends.

‘This is Noah, who I sit next to in class, his sister, Noelle, and his girlfriend, Mia. And this is Liam,’ he said, motioning to a boy their age dressed as the Joker, ‘Sophie, Zoe,’ the two girls smiled, dressed as a princess and a corpse bride respectively, ‘Matteo, and Aaron.’

Aaron gave Marinette a maniacal grin in his clown costume, and Matteo stepped towards her, dressed as a zombie.

‘It’s nice to finally meet you,’ he said in French, although his accent was German. ‘Adrien talks about you all the time.’

Adrien tightened the grip he had on Marinette’s waist. ‘Guys, come on, she doesn’t need to know that…’ He felt himself going bright red with embarrassment. Of course, Marinette knew that he thought about her all the time, but he missed her more at school. The classroom layout was so similar to Dupont, and it nearly broke his heart to walk into his new school and know she wouldn’t be sat just a desk away. That led him to talk almost nonstop about Marinette to the people he had made friends with, and it was probably nearing on the point of obsessive. Marinette really didn’t need to know just how much Adrien talked about her. She’d probably be creeped out if she knew.

The Swiss students just laughed and the party started up again, turning away from Marinette and Adrien in favour of grabbing a drink.

‘Why didn’t you want me to know?’ Marinette asked, biting her lip.

Adrien almost groaned at the sight, but he managed to hold it in at the last second when he realised that his girlfriend sounded a little upset. ‘To be honest, you’re all I talk about. I can’t tell them about Plagg and being Chat Noir, or my dad, so the only real conversation starters I have are my life in France, and my girlfriend. And I usually go for you. But it’s kind of become… a little creepy. I talk about you. Like nonstop.’ He scratched the back of his neck with his other hand. ‘They know more about you then they probably should. I just didn’t want them to freak you out if they told you just how much they knew.’

Marinette smiled and hooked her wrists behind Adrien’s neck. ‘Really? I think it’s sweet.’

The blond man rolled his lips together as he supressed his moan. God, having Marinette pressed up that close to him in that costume was _not_ a good idea in the slightest. Not at the moment, anyway. He gently removed her arms and led her over to the punch bowl. ‘Let’s get you a drink, and then you should say hi to Alya. She was pretty excited about your costume.’

Marinette let Adrien guide her and she sat by the television all night, chatting with her friends back in France as she watched Adrien with his friends. He would come over to her every fifteen minutes and check that she was alright and kiss her on the cheek and see if she needed anything, and the girl in the shark costume – Noelle, Marinette recalled – came to sit with her a few times, too, but for the most part, she was happy to sit and watch. She wasn’t the best at parties, especially not when she didn’t know very many people. She was fine sat down, away from the action. Or, she should have been. But the more she watched Adrien socialise and interact with his new friends, she felt anxiety take over her again.

Of course, she wanted him to make friends. She didn’t expect him to live in Switzerland for a whole year and not make friends with anybody. But, once again, she was worried he wouldn’t want to come back. He looked so happy, at his first ever Halloween party, and the first party he’d thrown. And she couldn’t tell him how she felt when he was obviously so delighted right now. Plus, she’d told him all of this before, just after he left. What if he thought she didn’t trust him? She did trust him! She trusted him with her life. He was her Chat Noir, for god’s sake. And even though she was Ladybug, the hero of France, she couldn’t help but get anxious sometimes.

‘Marinette?’

She looked around and smiled when she saw Alya was addressing her through the camera. ‘Hey.’

‘We’re going to start wrapping things up on my end. Why do you look so sad?’

Marinette sighed. She could tell Alya. ‘It’s just… Adrien’s having so much fun here. What if he doesn’t want to come back to France?’

‘Oh, girl, he’s definitely coming back! Have you seen the way he looks at you? Having said that, though…’ Alya trailed off. ‘Why isn’t he sat with you? I didn’t think he’d be able to resist you dressed up in all of that leather.’

The Asian girl shrugged. ‘I have no idea.’

Alya hummed. ‘You need to talk to him about it.’

‘I can’t. I don’t want to ruin today for him. It’s his first ever party. And we’ve already spoken about this before, when he first left. I know it’s just my insecurities, but what if he thinks that means I don’t trust him? Because I do, Alya. I trust him more than anyone.’

‘Whoa, slow down, girl. Adrien won’t think that. But you need to talk to him. He won’t hate you for doing it after his party. He’d want to know what’s up with his girlfriend.’

‘Yeah, I suppose.’

‘I’ll talk to you later. I need to clean up.’

‘Okay. Bye, Alya.’

The call ended and Marinette got up from where she had been sat all evening, just as a few people were leaving.

‘Hey,’ she said, as she came up behind Adrien, and he smiled at her.

‘Hi.’ He took out his fake fangs and gave her a proper smile. ‘Let’s start clearing up.’

‘Do you want us to help, man?’ Noah asked, even though he was sat on the settee with Mia on his lap.

‘No, it’s fine. You stay there.’

Adrien grabbed the half empty punch bowl and took it to the kitchen to empty it down the drain, and Marinette grabbed a cake tin from the pantry and placed all of the leftover treats inside.

Just as they came back into the living room to take the decorations down, Noah, Mia, Noelle, and the rest of the guests were putting their coats on.

‘Are you all going?’ Adrien asked.

Mia nodded. ‘Yeah. It’s getting late.’

‘But it was a great party!’ Noelle said. ‘And it was nice to meet you, too, Marinette.’

‘We’ll see you at school on Monday, man.’

Adrien hugged each of his classmates then saw them to the door, but when he came back into the living room, he saw the Marinette was stood on her tiptoes, trying to take the decorations down by herself.

‘You don’t need to do that on your own. Let me help.’ He came up behind her and wrapped one arm around his girlfriend’s waist as he leant up, pulling the decoration down with ease.

‘Thank you,’ Marinette whispered, but she didn’t turn to meet his eyes or smile at him. She stared at the floor in front of her instead. There was clearly something wrong.

Adrien dropped the decoration and slowly turned Marinette around to face him. He cupped her cheek with another of his hands and slowly tilted her face up and now he saw that she had tears in her eyes. ‘Baby, what’s wrong? Did one of my friends say something to you?’

She shook her head. ‘You’ll hate me…’ she whispered.

‘Impossible. I could never hate you.’ He rested both of his hands on her waist now. ‘Please tell me what’s wrong.’

‘You’re so happy here, and I want you to be, but…’

‘You’re worried I’ll want to stay?’ Adrien finished for her. He kissed her on the forehead. ‘You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Dupain-Cheng. I’m coming back to France one way or another.’

Marinette looked up at him with wide eyes. ‘You’re not mad at me?’

He chuckled. ‘How could I ever be?’

‘Well… we’ve had to have this conversation before.’

Adrien shrugged. ‘And we’ll have it as many times as you like until your fears are allayed. I’m coming back to France and you can’t do a thing to stop me.’

Marinette bit her lip. ‘But… then why did you stay away from me most of the night? I don’t understand. I thought you would like my costume…’

Adrien groaned and, feeling bold, he pulled Marinette closer to his body. ‘I do like your costume. I love it. I was staying away from you because I can’t resist you dressed like this.’ He held her even tighter then and leant down so he was able to whisper in her ear. ‘Do you feel it? Do you feel what you do to me?’

‘Feel? What…’ Marinette gasped when she felt something hard pressed against her thigh. That… that was a pretty good reason to stay away from her when he was in a room full of people. But she couldn’t help but smile slightly. She had done that to him. She felt herself become aroused and her centre throb slightly and she rolled her hips into Adrien’s.

Both teenagers moaned and grabbed hold of each other, but then didn’t move for a moment. This was as far as they had gone. Would something more happen tonight? Marinette had surprised Adrien by doing that, but he was sure she would be too shy to take it any further. But if he asked, and if he guided her through it, then maybe tonight would be the night. But it had to be all about her. That’s how he wanted it. Yeah, he was turned on, and had been thinking about him and Marinette doing more than just kissing for a while now, but she was so painfully shy in comparison to him. He had to show her that he truly loved her and that he wasn’t just doing this for the sake of sex.

‘Can we do something tonight?’ he whispered.

Marinette leant back just enough so their eyes could meet, but she quickly averted her gaze. ‘…Like what?’

Adrien moved the hand that was on her waist and trailed it up slowly so it rested just on her breast, but more on her ribs, just in case she didn’t want to do anything. ‘Can I touch you here? You don’t have to say yes. Please don’t feel like you have to. But I want tonight to be all about you.’

Marinette didn’t say anything for a moment. She could say no. Adrien wouldn’t hate her if she did. She knew he wouldn’t ever force her to do something she didn’t want to do. But the problem was, she didn’t want to say no. She wanted to do this. But what if she did it wrong? What if she ended up embarrassing herself? She tightened the grip she had on Adrien’s arm slightly. Both of them had no experience, she knew that. But Adrien would take care of her.

She nodded. ‘Okay. Let’s do it.’

Adrien gave her a soft smile and his hands went down to Marinette’s thighs. He grabbed them and lifted his girlfriend up, and she wrapped her legs around his hips.

He leant in to kiss her, but pulled back at the last moment. ‘If you want to stop, at any moment, just say and I will, okay?’

Marinette nodded and they kissed then. It was slow and careful but it had passion behind it. As long as the teenagers had waited to touch each other, they wanted to take it slow and savour it.

Adrien pulled away first and he started to move then, carrying Marinette out of the living room and upstairs. He climbed them slowly, partly so he didn’t jostle his girlfriend, partly so he didn’t wake up Nathalie or the Gorilla. God knows what they would do if they found out what he and Marinette were about to do.

He quietly opened the door to his bedroom, and once it was closed, Adrien fished the two kwamis out of his pocket. ‘Stay in the bathroom until morning,’ he whispered and they flew off, not having to be told twice.

He walked forwards then, towards the door, until Marinette’s back was against the door and their crotches were flush.

Marinette moaned quietly when she felt Adrien, _there,_ against her, and _hard_ , and she couldn’t help but roll her hips into his.

Adrien moaned and he looked as if he wanted to continue doing that, but instead, he stilled Marinette’s hips with his hand. ‘As good as that feels, princess, I want tonight to just be about you.’

Marinette’s eyes widened. ‘But… you’re…’ she blushed, unable to finish his sentence.

Adrien smiled. ‘I know. I’ll take care of myself after, if it makes you feel better. I don’t want you to have to feel that you have to do something to me, too. I just want it all to be about you.’

The younger girl allowed herself to smile. ‘Okay.’

They kissed again, still slowly. Adrien could tell Marinette was nervous. She was practically trembling beneath his hands. He pulled away again and looked her in the eye. ‘Baby, you’re shaking. Are you sure you want this?’

She nodded. ‘I’m just nervous, in case I do it wrong.’

Adrien placed a kiss on her forehead. ‘You could never. Come on.’ He walked them over to the bed and gently took off Marinette’s heels before he toed off his own shoes. He set Marinette on the bed then, right in the centre, propped up against his pillows. He knelt on the bed, too, right in front of her, sat between her legs.

He reached out both of his hands and rested them on her small waist. ‘Can I touch them?’ he asked, glancing at Marinette’s breasts so she knew what he was talking about. He wasn’t immature, hadn’t particularly ever been unless you counted his love for puns, but even he felt too shy to actually say breasts out loud in front of Marinette, and he was sure she would spontaneously combust if he did.

She nodded, too nervous to speak, and she watched as one of Adrien’s hands trailed up, just resting on the edge of her left breast, the same way as he’d done it downstairs just before.

He moved it then, his whole hand cupping her breast now, but staying away from her nipple. It was soft, yet still with a quality of heaviness to it. And the leather certainly wasn’t helping. It made them look so round, so tempting… was it any wonder he had stayed away from her at the party? He was always tempted by Marinette, whether she in her casual clothes or as Ladybug, but dressed as Chat Noir was enough to nearly give him a nosebleed.

He gave her breast a light squeeze then, and Marinette moaned, her hips bucking up slightly; the bell on her costume ringing as she moved.

‘Is this okay?’ he asked, still squeezing her breast, his other hand still on her waist.

She nodded, her eyes half lidded. ‘Keep going.’

Adrien moved his other hand then and cupped her other breast and squeezed both of them at the same time, and Marinette let out another moan.

‘You can…’ she panted slightly, ‘squeeze harder. It doesn’t really hurt.’

‘Tell me if it does, though?’

She nodded and Adrien did as she told him, squeezing her breasts a little harder, and she keened.

Adrien licked his lips, feeling himself get more aroused. He didn’t know how much longer he could last not touching himself if Marinette kept reacting to every slight touch like this. ‘Can I erm… unzip your costume? If that’s okay?’

Marinette nodded and settled back into the pillows as Adrien let go of her breasts, and she closed her eyes, listening as the bell jingled as Adrien pulled it unzip the top of the costume. Her eyes flew open then, remembering that she wasn’t wearing a bra, but it was too late. He had already unzipped it, her breasts revealed.

If Adrien had thought his mouth had gone dry before, when Marinette had walked into the party, then what he was feeling now was ten times as amplified. His girlfriend was absolutely gorgeous. Pale skin, pretty pink nipples that were hard with arousal, her breasts moving slightly with the way she was shaking. ‘Baby…’ he whispered. ‘You weren’t wearing a bra tonight?’

Marinette shook her head. ‘I was about to tell you… the costume was too tight to wear a bra with because of the leather…’

Adrien looked up then, their eyes meeting, and Marinette swallowed when she saw that his normally innocent green eyes were completely full of lust. ‘You were at a party, talking to me and my friends, looking gorgeous, and you _knew_ that you weren’t wearing a bra?’

Marinette nodded. ‘I’m sorry-’

Adrien cut her off with a hard kiss to the mouth. ‘Do _not_ apologise, baby. It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.’

Before she could properly take in what he said, Adrien’s lips moved to her neck, then down her décolletage, until they brushed over her breast. Adrien’s lips found her nipple then and she gasped as he kissed it.

‘Is this okay?’ he whispered.

She nodded, too embarrassed to speak.

He kissed it again, then he pulled the pink nipple into his mouth and started to suck on it, biting down lightly and licking over it ever so often.

Marinette couldn’t hold in her moans. Her legs were shaking and one of her hands flew up to Adrien’s head, and she gripped the golden strands to keep him there.

He brought up his other hand then and cupped Marinette’s other breast, lightly pinching, twisting, and caressing the nipple until his princess moaned even louder.

He took his mouth off her nipple then and his girlfriend whined in protest. ‘Adrien…’ she whimpered and he groaned. Even now, with a leather cat suit hanging around her shoulders and her breasts on show, with one nipple red and the other a little wet, she still looked adorable. How did she do it?

With his other hand, he reached up and took the neglected nipple into his grasp, twisting and pinching them both at the same time.

‘Adrien!’ she shouted, her legs shaking as she kicked them out, her hips bucking again.

He leant in then and rested his head on her shoulder. ‘Do you know how lucky this makes me feel?’ he whispered, his breath hot against her ear. ‘Knowing that I’m the only one who gets to do this to you? Knowing I’m the only one who will _ever_ get to do this to you?’

Marinette whimpered again, not prepared for Adrien to say anything like that to her. She was so close to climaxing. She just needed a little more.

Adrien took one hand off her breast then and rested it on her hip. ‘You’re so responsive to everything, baby.’

She couldn’t help but whine again. His hand was so close to where she needed it. But she wasn’t ready for him to touch her there. And she was too shy to touch herself in front of him.

‘Are you close, princess?’ he asked. He wasn’t sure what that exactly looked like on Marinette, but from the way she was making non-stop noise and her hips were bucking, he was taking an educated guess.

She nodded as another moan fell from her lips.

‘What do you need?’

She whimpered. ‘Ah… to touch but… I don’t want…’ she was too embarrassed to be able to say exactly what she wanted but Adrien got the idea of what she was trying to communicate. He removed his hands from her nipples and put them on her waist and pulled her forward and lifted her up slightly, placing on his thigh, her legs either side of it.

‘What…?’ she whispered, confused.

Adrien’s hands returned to her nipples and carried on twisting and pinching them. ‘Go on. It’s okay. You can use my thigh.’

Marinette moaned, and then a moment later, she was rocking back and forwards, her hips undulating and her centre rubbing against Adrien’s clothed thigh.

She was a sight to behold. Her hair was falling out of her pigtails, her red lipstick smudged, and her bluebell eyes shining with tears. God, Adrien couldn’t take it much longer. He was getting close.

A moment later, Marinette shouted his name, and then she was coming, shaking on his thigh as she did.

He took his hands off her nipples then but held her through it, stroking her back and pressing kisses to the crown of her head as she came down.

Once she was calm enough, Marinette leant back and smiled at him. ‘You should go and…’

‘Are you sure? But you…’

She let out a quiet chuckle and kissed Adrien’s cheek. ‘Just go.’

He gently lifted his girlfriend off his knee, and then the blond man practically sprinted into the bathroom.

Marinette giggled as she watched him go. He was so sweet, neglecting himself and taking care of her. Not that she was really sure she could describe Adrien Agreste as sweet ever again after he’d played with her breasts and talked dirty to her. She blushed, suddenly realising that she was sat on the bed, the top of her costume still undone, and her breasts on show. Should she zip her costume back up? Or cover herself with her hands? Adrien had already seen them. Was there a point? But she felt a bit awkward just sat there partially naked.

Before she could decide on the best course of action, Adrien came out of the bathroom, looking a lot calmer now. He smiled at her, then he went straight over to his wardrobe and grabbed one of his t-shirts. He took it over to the bed with him, and he knelt down behind Marinette as he slowly peeled the leather costume down over her arms and back, kissing the skin as it was revealed to him, before the leather fell to her waist. He put the t-shirt on her then, smiling at the way it pooled around her thighs and fell off one shoulder.

‘Why don’t you go and get changed in the bathroom?’ he whispered. ‘Then we can talk.’

Marinette nodded, knowing that talking about what they just did was for the best. She got out of Adrien’s bed and grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom.

Tikki and Plagg were sat on the edge of the sink when she went in, and her eyes widened when she saw them.

‘Did you… watch Adrien…?’

Plagg cackled. ‘God, no. You were making a lot of noise, and we didn’t want to listen, so we flew just outside of the window.’

‘Don’t worry, no spotted us,’ Tikki said, then flew up to Marinette’s face. ‘Was it… good?’

Marinette blushed but nodded. ‘Yeah. Really good.’ She couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t asexual, but she usually didn’t have the time to get aroused between school and being Ladybug. And if she did, she more than often didn’t have any time to satisfy herself. What she and Adrien had just done felt more than amazing. _Especially_ because it was with Adrien. She couldn’t imagine doing anything like that with anyone but him. ‘I’ll tell you about it more later.’

Plagg laughed again. ‘You may as well just tell us both now. Adrien will only end up telling me himself.’

The teenage girl rolled her eyes. ‘No offence, but… no, Plagg. Could you two turn around whilst I get changed?’

The two kwamis complied and Marinette peeled off the rest of her Chat Noir costume before she turned to the clothes she’d brought in. There were her pink and white pyjamas, as well as a change of underwear. But Adrien had already given her a shirt. She didn’t particularly feel like taking it off. It was cosy and big and smelt just like him. Plus it fell well down past her thighs. She could just change her underwear. She was feeling more daring, considering what they’d just done. With a smile, she changed her underwear, then gathered the other clothes into her arms.

She went back into the bedroom with the two kwamis, but Marinette almost dropped everything she was holding when she saw Adrien. He was stood at his bedside table, replying to a text on his phone, wearing just boxers. She quickly averted her gaze and placed her clothes down by her suitcase, but when she turned back around, Adrien had put his phone down and was now smiling at his girlfriend.

‘You okay?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I just… didn’t expect to see you shirtless.’

His smile widened. ‘Well, I thought that since I saw you topless, I thought it was only fair.’ He held out his hand and Marinette took it, letting Adrien lead her over to the bed.

He watched as she climbed in, trying not to notice how the shirt he had given her fluttered around her thighs, or how long and lithe her pale legs were. He climbed into the bed next to her, and as soon as he was settled, he took Marinette’s hands in his. ‘Are you okay to talk about it?’

Marinette nodded, looking down at their joined hands. ‘Yeah, but… you’re a bit distracting shirtless…’

Adrien started to pull away. ‘I can put on a shirt.’

‘No!’ Marinette shouted, only realising what she had said just after it had come out of her mouth.

Adrien stayed where he was and retook Marinette’s hands. ‘It’s okay, baby.’ He placed a kiss on her forehead. ‘Do you like seeing me shirtless?’

Marinette didn’t say anything, just kept looking at their hands.

Adrien shuffled closer to her and let go of one of his girlfriend’s hands to cup the side of her face. ‘It’s just me, princess,’ he whispered. ‘You can tell me.’

She nodded then. ‘I like it,’ she said with a squeak, and Adrien smiled. She was adorable.

‘Thank you for letting me know.’ He kissed her forehead again. ‘Did you enjoy what I did before?’

Marinette nodded again. ‘Yeah. It felt… good.’

‘I didn’t do anything you didn’t want me, too, right?’

She looked up then, her eyes wide. ‘No. I would have told you.’

‘Is it something you’d like me to do again in the future?’

Another nod. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Of course,’ Adrien said, playing with Marinette’s fingers now.

‘Why didn’t you let me help you come?’

He smiled then. ‘I wanted it to be about you. I didn’t want you to think I was just with you for sex.’

Marinette returned his smile. ‘You’ve been waiting for me since we were twelve. I think it’s pretty clear by now that you’re not in this relationship for that.’

‘Which reminds me,’ Adrien said. ‘About what you said before. I know that you’re scared I’ll want to stay here. I understand that. It’s not an unfounded fear. I have friends now and I do kind of like it here. But at the end of the day, I’m not Swiss. I’m French, and my girlfriend doesn’t live in Switzerland, either. I’m moving back to Paris as soon as I can, believe me. Just please…’Adrien’s expression became strained then, like it had looked when Marinette had arrived a few days ago and he didn’t think she would be arriving until later. ‘Don’t doubt my love for you. You’re the most important thing in my life.’

Marinette’s eyes widened and she gripped Adrien’s hands now. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you, either.’ She averted her gaze. ‘Are you scared about anything?’

Adrien nodded. ‘Of course, I am. I’m scared that you’ll find someone better, that someone will woo you whilst I’m here and I won’t know before it’s too late and I can’t win you back. I’m scared that maybe all this distance will put too much strain on our relationship and we’ll break up. Or that maybe you won’t want to move in with me when I come back to Paris.’ He looked away then. ‘I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I’d waited a whole year to live with you only to find out that you didn’t want me anymore.’

A moment later, he found himself with a lap full of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, her eyes full of tears. ‘None of that will happen. Do you remember on my first day back at school, I rang you after I got this flowers and you told me were picked to be Ladybug and Chat Noir for a reason more than being kind and helpful? Tikki told me that all ladybird and black cat miraculous wearers always end up together. We’re meant to be. And believe me, I have tried dozens of times to fall for other guys.’

‘Dozens?’ Adrien asked, mirth lacing his voice.

Marinette nodded, finding herself smiling now. ‘Dozens. A baker’s dozen, in fact. But no luck. There was always just you. Even after you brought me constipation medication from London.’

They both began to laugh, still holding each other.

‘And as for the moving in part,’ Marinette said when she had calmed down, ‘not to be creepy, but I’ve had the layout of food in our fridge planned since I was thirteen.’

Adrien threw his head back, laughing even more now. God, they were so far gone for each other. There was no use in trying to fall for anyone else. This was it. ‘I love you, Mari.’

‘I love you, too.’

‘God, we get it,’ Plagg said, and the two teenagers jumped, only just remembering that the two kwamis were in the room. They were lounging on the bedside table under some unused tissues that were serving as their blanket. ‘You really love each other. But me and _my_ love would like some sleep.’

Tikki giggled. ‘Good night, you two.’

Marinette smiled at her kwami and climbed off Adrien’s lap to snuggle under the covers. He joined her and wrapped his arms around her and pressed yet another kiss to her forehead before he closed his eyes.

‘Stupid kids,’ Plagg muttered under his breath.

….

**Thursday 1 st November**

Adrien sat propped up on one elbow, watching as Marinette slept. Her hair was down, out of the pigtails, the silken strands spread across the pillow, her small hands balled into tiny fits, her lips in a pout as she slept. She was incredibly beautiful, and Adrien found himself smiling. He had always known she was gorgeous, but it was like he was seeing her in a whole new light after last night. How she managed to maintain her cuteness whilst having her nipples played with, he couldn’t even fathom. What was this girl doing to him? He didn’t even care. She was so amazing.

Her eyelids fluttered open then and Adrien smiled.

‘Morning, baby.’

Marinette giggled and turned her face into Adrien’s bare chest. ‘Your voice is a lot deeper in the mornings,’ she said, her own voice muffled.

Adrien chuckled and kissed the top of Marinette’s head. He had been right: she was always much more forward when she was sleepy.

As if it prove his own point, a moment later, he felt Marinette’s small hand on his chest, tracing the lines of muscles there. She poked them and pouted again. ‘We do the same thing but you have loads of muscle and I don’t. Why?’

‘Because we don’t do the same thing. Because I work out in addition to being Chat Noir.’

Marinette looked up at him, still pouting. ‘Kiss me.’

He did as she asked, letting his hands slide down her body. One stayed at her waist, but the other found its way to Marinette’s ribs, just below her breast, but he didn’t move to touch it. He kind of wanted to. He liked how his every touch last night had got a reaction out of his girlfriend. Not that he should be thinking about this now unless he wanted to have a problem again.

He pulled away and removed his hands. ‘I’ll go and get us some breakfast. Stay here.’

Marinette hummed, watching from the bed as Adrien went over to his wardrobe. He grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of jogging bottoms and put them on, covering up his gorgeous athletic body. She had no idea that her boyfriend was so toned.

Adrien left the room with a smirk, knowing that Marinette had been watching him. Slowly, she was becoming bolder. Hopefully he could help her become more confident.

In the kitchen, Nathalie was stood by the kettle, making a cup of coffee. She looked up when he came in. ‘Do you and Marinette want one?’

‘Yes, please.’ He got a tray out and laid on it a plate of croissants then stood next to Nathalie, waiting for the kettle to boil again.

‘Did you enjoy last night?’ she asked.

Adrien nodded. ‘Yeah. I had a great time. Thank you for letting me have a party.’

Nathalie shrugged. ‘You don’t need to thank me. It’s your house. You can do what you like.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Did you use the condoms then?’

He blushed. ‘W-what?! Why would you ask me that?’

‘I’m not stupid. I heard Marinette… you know…’

Adrien groaned, realising they probably hadn’t been as quiet as they should have been. ‘Right, okay, firstly, please please _please_ do not mention this to anyone ever, especially Marinette. She probably won’t even be able to look at either us again if she found out you heard her. Secondly, we didn’t use the condoms.’

Nathalie’s eyes widened. ‘Adrien!’

‘Ah, wait! We didn’t have sex, okay? We did… other… _things_.’

His guardian nodded. ‘I see.’

‘You won’t say anything to Marinette?’

‘Of course, I won’t.’

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief just as the kettle boiled. ‘Thank, god.’

Nathalie made the two coffees, then put them on the tray. ‘I’m not asking it to embarrass you, you know. I just want to make sure you’re being safe.’

The blond man nodded as he took hold of the tray. ‘I know. Thank you for asking. It just makes me a little embarrassed. My father never really spoke to me about this kind of stuff.’

She gave Adrien a weak smile. ‘I know. But hopefully we can. If you need anything, that is.’

‘I will.’ He left the kitchen then, and Nathalie watched as he went. She really was worried about him where sex was concerned. How were you supposed to parent that when you weren’t their actual parent? She had no clue. But she had no choice but to address it. She didn’t want Adrien or Marinette to get an STD, nor did she want Marinette to end up pregnant. Not because she didn’t think Marinette could handle it. It would be a bit of a strain on her, being so young, but she was sure that Marinette would be an amazing mum. That wasn’t the problem, though. It was that the baby wouldn’t call her grandma, and she wasn’t sure her heart could take that.

…

**Sunday 4 th November**

Soft. That’s the only way Marinette could describe it. Soft and gentle, but at the same time, rough and possessive. That’s how Adrien had been with her since Thursday morning.

He wouldn’t let her leave his bed unless it was to go the bathroom or get some food, and as soon as she came back, he was all over her, kissing her face and neck.

She giggled as he woke her up like that. ‘Adrien!’

He made a noise similar to a growl in her ear. ‘Want you to stay here forever,’ he whispered.

Marinette sighed and leant back against the pillows. She was leaving today and, of course, she didn’t want to. After today, her and Adrien wouldn’t be together until school let out for Christmas. He was coming to France this time, with Nathalie and the Gorilla, and he would be staying for two weeks, but they had almost two whole months to wait until they could be together again. ‘I know. Me, too.’

They lay together, still, not making a sound, just holding each other. Marinette was wearing the shirt Adrien had given her on Wednesday night, her legs bare, and Adrien was in just his boxers, their bodies tangled together.

After a moment, Marinette felt a tear hit her cheek and she looked up at Adrien to find that he was crying.

‘Chaton…’ she reached up and cupped his face. Ever since she’d arrived, he’d seemed vulnerable, and had become even more so after Wednesday night. It had probably been why he’d been too scared to let her out of his sight for the rest of the week and had kept her by his side in his bed. He had become possessive and protective and whilst Marinette didn’t mind, she quite liked it, in fact; but it wouldn’t be good for Adrien when she left. He couldn’t protect her as Ladybug from a country away, nor could he be possessive over her from Switzerland. Well, he could certainly try, but it probably wouldn’t work out for the best. She needed to calm him down.

‘Adrien, please, it’s going to be okay.’

He sat up then and brought Marinette with him, sitting her in his lap. ‘I won’t see you until the twenty-first of December. How is that alright?’

Marinette shook her head. ‘Okay, it’s not, but it’s going to have to be.’

More tears fell then. ‘How am I supposed to protect you when you’re a country away?’

She sighed: she knew this was why he had been acting like this. ‘It’s okay. You don’t need to. I can look after myself. And if there’s a tricky situation, Rena Rouge can help. I know you worry, you can’t help it. I worry about you, too, when you’re patrolling as Chat Noir. What if _you_ get hurt and I’m not there to help? Or what if someone spots you and works out that both Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir have left Paris for Bern? I understand, but all of this worrying will make it worse. We need to be brave, okay?’

Adrien wiped away some of his tears. ‘I know, I just don’t want to do it without you. I don’t want to be brave if you’re not there with me.’

‘And soon we won’t have to. Soon, we’ll only have to say goodbye to go to university or work or whatever and we’ll be together again by the end of the day. It won’t be long. We’ve done two months now.’

He nodded. ‘It’s usually me reassuring you.’

Marinette gave him a weak smile. ‘I need to look after you, too.’

‘We should get up. We need to get dressed. Your train will be leaving soon.’

She reluctantly agreed and grabbed a change of clothes from Adrien’s wardrobe then went into the bathroom.

Adrien stared at the wardrobe doors and Marinette’s open pink suitcase just by it. She had tried to pack yesterday, but Adrien had pulled her back into bed. If she didn’t pack, she couldn’t go, right? He sighed. Wrong. She would have to go either way.

He got out of his bed and went over to the suitcase. The leather costume she had made was screwed up inside, her black heels thrown in with it. He took them out and folded up the cat suit, and placed it inside, arranging the heels neatly next to it.

The blond man stood up and opened the doors to his wardrobe, staring for a moment at the pink clothes that split up his black and white ones. He began to take each garment off the hanger, folding them up and placing them in the suitcase as he went, but when he got to the last item, his fingers trembled. Would she mind if he kept one shirt of hers? That way it made it seem as if she was going to waltz into his room any minute to get it. It made it seem as if she was still here.

He left it there: he would ask Marinette after. He knelt back at the suitcase again and sorted through Marinette’s underwear. He did it quickly, not lingering in touching or looking at them. She would be too embarrassed if she found out that he’d done that with her underwear.

He got back up then and took his own clothes out of his wardrobe, quickly dressing himself before he checked the time on his phone. They had ten minutes until they would have to leave for the train station.

Marinette came out of the bathroom then, her toiletries bag in hand and the t-shirt she had been sleeping in for the past few nights slung over one arm. She smiled when she clocked her packed suitcase. ‘You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.’ She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Adrien’s cheek, then she blushed. ‘Do you mind if I keep your shirt?’

Adrien smiled. ‘You don’t need to ask. Actually… can I keep one of your tops? Not to wear, obviously. I don’t even think I’d get my arm inside, let alone the rest of my body. It’s just to feel like you’re here, you know…’

Marinette noticed the open wardrobe and smiled when she saw her pink shirt inside, hanging up between the black and white and green. ‘Keep it as long as you want.’ She folded up the t-shirt and put away her toiletry bag, then Marinette zipped her suitcase shut. ‘That’s everything.’

Adrien nodded, trying to swallow down the lump that was forming in his throat. He stepped forwards and wrapped his arms around Marinette’s waist. ‘Will you wear my shirt every night to bed?’

She nodded with a smile. ‘To be honest, I already wear your jumper to bed most nights.’

‘I bet you look adorable wearing that with your pyjama pants.’

Marinette blushed then. ‘I err… don’t wear pants.’

Adrien’s eyes widened then and Marinette panicked. ‘I’m sorry! I’ll wear pants if you want me to! I just… like the feel of your jumper on my legs… feels nice…’

‘Don’t apologise,’ he whispered, pulling her towards him then. ‘Seriously, don’t. That’s…’ he groaned then and rested his head on Marinette’s shoulder. ‘Will you take a picture for me? Every night? I want to see how hot you look, even if you’re not with me.’

Instead of squeaking like he thought she would, instead, Marinette giggled. ‘Okay.’

‘Do you want a picture of me shirtless, too?’

She did squeak then and shook her head. ‘I-I can remember what it looks like.’

Adrien hummed. ‘You certainly looked at it enough. And touched it.’

Marinette whined and Adrien rubbed his hands up and down her back. ‘Don’t worry. I liked you looking.’

Before the conversation could continue, there was a shout from downstairs. ‘Adrien! Marinette! We need to be going!’

They both sighed. This was it.

‘Plagg, Tikki,’ Adrien called, and the kwamis flew out of the drawers of one of his bedside tables. They shared a quick hug and a tiny kiss goodbye, and then Plagg settled himself into Adrien’s shirt pocket, and Tikki into Marinette’s coin purse.

‘Are you ready?’ Adrien asked as he turned to Marinette.

She shook her head. ‘I’m never ready to leave you.’

‘I wish you didn’t have to go.’

‘I don’t want to.’

He wrapped his arms around Marinette and they stood together by the wardrobe in silence. She hadn’t left yet, and even though the room was filled with furniture and Adrien’s belongings, he felt like the room was so empty with Marinette leaving. He didn’t know how many more times he could say goodbye to his girlfriend before he had some sort of breakdown.

He pulled back then, and without giving Marinette any warning, kissed her. She whimpered into his mouth then her body went pliant and soft under Adrien’s hands. His lips left hers and made their way across her cheek, over her jaw, and down her neck. He took the skin there into his mouth, sucking on it and biting down on it slightly.

Marinette keened and she threaded her fingers into Adrien’s blond hair. ‘Adrien… we have to go…’

He placed a kiss on her neck over the mark he’d made, then pulled away. ‘Sorry, I just… want you to remember what we did together.’

Marinette blushed, knowing he was referring to Wednesday night, but she gave him a shy smile. ‘I could never forget.’

‘Adrien! Marinette!’ Nathalie shouted again, and the teenage couple shared a final quick kiss.

Adrien grabbed the suitcase and Marinette her rucksack, and they descended the stairs together; Marinette pretending to scratch her neck to hide the mark Adrien had just left when Nathalie came into view.

Adrien’s guardian led the way out to the car, and they all climbed in.

Marinette and Adrien cuddled up together on the backseat, faces pressed into each other’s necks. It was going to get harder before it got easier, but they were going to get through this. They _had_ to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette plan for Christmas together.

**Monday 5 th November**

‘Okay, I need to tell you about this, right now.’

Marinette smiled at the screen, her eyes wide in surprise. She had been home from school for twenty minutes when Adrien rung her on Skype, and when she answered the call, he was thrusting his tablet in front of the camera.

‘Good afternoon to you, too.’

Her boyfriend laughed as he brought the tablet down, revealing his face. This was the first time she had seen him since their tearful goodbye at Bern train station yesterday and it made Marinette’s heart throb to see him again but to know she wouldn’t get to be with him in person until Christmas.

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘But we learnt about this really interesting thing in cultural studies class. Can I tell you about it?’

‘Of course.’ As much as she missed him, she loved how Adrien looked when he got passionate about something. His eyes went wide, he couldn’t stop smiling, and he sounded so happy.

‘Okay, so, today, on the fifth of November, in England, is Bonfire Night, or it’s sometimes called Guy Fawkes night, and it has a lot of history behind it. So, in 1605, James I was the King of England, but no one liked him and there was soon going to be a revolt. So these thirteen men got together, Guy Fawkes being one of them, and they decided to kill the King. On the fifth of November, they smuggled barrels of gunpowder into a tunnel they dug under the Houses of Parliament in London, and Guy Fawkes stayed behind to light the gunpowder that night, which is when parliament would be in session, and the King would be there, too.

‘Guy Fawkes was found, though, before he could light the gunpowder, and they tortured him until he told them the names of his co-conspirators, then they killed him. So, now, every year on the fifth of November, English people throw a dummy of a man, a “guy”, on a bonfire and have firework displays. Isn’t that weird?’

Marinette stared at Adrien for a moment. ‘Why would they celebrate that?’

‘I have no idea.’

They both started to laugh, their tears from yesterday forgotten.

Once he had calmed down, Adrien balanced his elbow on his desk and let his chin rest in the palm of his hand. ‘I want to watch fireworks with you.’

‘Me, too. Let’s do it on New Year’s Eve.’

Adrien smiled. ‘Let’s sit on the Arc de Triomphe together to watch the display.’

‘And how are we supposed to get up there?’

Adrien narrowed his eyes. ‘You are joking right?’ He waved one of his hands slightly, his miraculous in view.

‘Oh.’

He laughed and Marinette bit her lip. ‘Do you know what date you’ll be here for Christmas?’

Adrien shook his head with a smile. ‘Not yet. I’m still waiting for my school to get back to me with all of my holiday dates. But I’ll definitely be there for Christmas Eve, but I’m hoping to be a lot sooner. I want to be there six hours after my school finishes for the term.’

Marinette smiled, knowing that’s how long the train from Bern and Paris took. ‘You can have a rest, kitty.’

‘Then I’ll take a nap when I’m with you.’

Her smile widened and a light blush came to her cheeks. ‘You’re so sweet.’

‘Only because of you. What else do you want to do with me over Christmas?’

Marinette hummed. ‘Will you be staying in a hotel?’

‘Why?’

‘Ah… well… I-I just-’

‘When I say staying in a hotel, I’ll have a room booked, but I’ll definitely be sneaking out every night as Chat Noir to be with you. Is that what you’re asking me?’

Marinette nodded, too embarrassed to say anything more.

Adrien smirked. ‘Even after I saw you half naked, you can’t ask me to share a bed with you?’

She shook her head.

He smiled at her. How could someone so adorable fall in love with him? He wouldn’t push it, though. He knew if he pushed her too much, she would just clam up altogether. ‘What else do you want to do?’

‘On Christmas Eve, me and my parents go around Paris and give blankets and cake out to homeless people. I need to check with my parents, but I want you to come with us. And Nathalie and the Gorilla, too. If that’s something you’d want to do?’

He stared at her in silence for a moment. Even when his mum had been around, they’d never really had any Christmas traditions. To do this with Marinette and her family… it would mean the world to him.

‘Adrien? You have tears in your eyes.’

‘Sorry… I’d love to do that with your family.’

‘Why were you about to cry, though?’

Adrien looked down at his desk. ‘It’s just that… me and my parents never did anything like that. Have a Christmas tradition, I mean.’

Marinette frowned. How could someone who had been brought up by such a cruel man end up as an incredibly wonderful person? She knew not having Christmas traditions wasn’t an abusive thing, but to grow up having zero traditions must have been heart breaking, especially when Adrien loved Christmas so much. ‘Then I’m sure my parents would be more than happy to let you join in. We should make it part of our traditions. And you and Nathalie and the Gorilla should come round on Christmas day, too. We can eat chocolate for breakfast in our pyjamas then open presents and play games, then in the evening, we always watch a film. I want you and your family to be there this year.’

Adrien smiled, tears in his eyes once again. ‘I’d love to do that. What about the rest of the break? What should we do?’

Marinette hummed. ‘I’m sure you’ll want to see everyone else, so I’ll talk to Chloe and see if we can have a small party at her hotel so you can see everyone.’

His smile widened impossibly. His girlfriend was wonderful. ‘I really want to kiss you right now.’

She gave him a small smile. ‘Me, too. I just want to be close to you.’

‘I know.’

‘We have to wait so long to be together again.’ Tears filled her eyes now.

Adrien pouted. ‘We can do this, baby.’

She just nodded. It would be over two months, and it would be hard. But they could do it.

Hopefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien attends a photoshoot.

**Saturday 17 th November**

‘This way, Adrien!’

He smiled at the camera, leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets. He was in the centre of Bern, attending his first photo shoot in months. He hadn’t felt up to doing one after the reveal of his dad as Hawk Moth, but now he felt settled enough to start modelling again.

He didn’t particularly enjoy doing it, but his face sold clothes, and he wanted to keep the business going. Even though it was called _Gabriel,_ and it reminded him of his father and what he’d done every time Adrien thought about it, a lot of people were employed there and relied on it to support their families. He couldn’t shut the business down because of a personal issue. Even if it was a pretty _big_ personal issue that would more than likely affect him for the rest of his life. Maybe he should just change the name of the fashion label.

The photographer sighed and lowered his camera. ‘Let’s take a break.’

Nathalie came over to Adrien, her clipboard in hand. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked.

He nodded. ‘Yeah. I’m just not really feeling it.’

‘Are you unwell?’

‘No, just… my mood. Do you think I should change the name of _Gabriel_?’

Nathalie looked up from her clipboard in surprise. ‘What to?’

‘No idea. But what do you think?’

‘It could work. It could help to better the image of the brand after your father… you know. But it doesn’t need doing immediately. The company is doing well. Why don’t you get a drink and perhaps ring Marinette?’

Adrien smiled at the mention of his girlfriend and his heartbeat quickened. They had spoken last night, and she had said that she was going shopping early for Christmas presents with Alya today. Which she had told him over Skype whilst wearing his t-shirt. And after the call had ended, she’d sent him a picture of her led on her bed, his t-shirt riding up her bare thighs. She was going to be the death of him.

He wandered into the nearest public building and bought himself a drink from a vending machine. He began to walk back to the shoot, taking out his phone as he did. Marinette’s face smiled back up at him and he dialled her number immediately.

‘Hey,’ she said when she picked up.

‘Hi. Are you having a nice time with Alya?’

‘Yep. But aren’t you supposed to be at a photo shoot right now?’

‘We’re on a break,’ he said as he sat down on a bench. From here, he could see where the photo shoot was taking place, and there was a bench nearby that the photographer was using to put his equipment on. ‘I’m not particularly in the mood for modelling today.’

‘Oh, how come?’

‘Because you’re not here.’

Marinette sighed. ‘Adrien…’

‘And I’m thinking about changing the name of the fashion label. I don’t really want to talk about it, though. Tell me about your day so far. I want to hear your voice.’

He could hear the smile in Marinette’s voice as she spoke. ‘I’m still out with Alya. She’s just in the changing rooms trying something on.’

‘Shame. I thought you’d be at home and wearing my shirt. You should have worn it out.’

‘Yeah, because I was going to wander around Paris in the middle of November in just your shirt and my underwear.’

‘I was suggesting you could maybe wear my shirt with a pair of jeans or something? But how bold of you to talk about your underwear in public, Miss Dupain-Cheng,’ he said with a smirk.

‘W-well, it won’t be happening again,’ she stuttered.

Adrien smiled. ‘Maybe you should buy some underwear while you’re out. You can wear it for the next time we… do things.’

‘Adrien!’

‘Do you not want to do more?’ he asked and his eyes drifted back to the bench where the photographer’s equipment was. There was a man wearing a blue baseball cap hovering nearby, shifting from foot to foot.

‘Well, yeah, but… I’m in the middle of C & A right now.’

The man stepped closer to the bench.

‘Sorry to cut this short, but I need to go. I’ll call you later.’

‘Oh, um, bye!’

Adrien ended the call and stood up, just as the man reached out and pinched a camera. No one seemed to notice as the man walked off around the corner and down an alleyway, so Adrien jogged after him.

The man didn’t appear to notice Adrien following him, so when the blond model entered the alleyway, he called out to him. ‘Hey! Wait!’

The thief turned around then, and as soon as he saw Adrien behind him, his eyes widened and he broke into a run through Bern’s back alleys.

Adrien gave chase, but the man was much faster, not to mention Adrien didn’t know Bern the way he knew Paris. If he continued, he wouldn’t be able to find his way back soon. But he couldn’t not go after this man.

Still running, he fished Plagg out of his pocket. ‘Are you ready?’

The kwami’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, no.’

‘Claws out!’

A moment later, there was a flash of green light, and then it was Chat Noir running down the alleyway. He was much faster now, but the thief had already gained a lot of ground, so Chat Noir took his staff out and vaulted up to the nearest roof and carried on running.

Within a matter of seconds, Chat Noir was ahead of the man, so he jumped back down to street level.

The man turned to run back the other way, but Chat Noir reached out and easily pinned him against the brick wall.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ the man asked, panting, but Chat Noir just smirked at him. It was probably for the best he didn’t speak: no one could find out that Chat Noir had moved to Switzerland along with Adrien Agreste.

He reached into the man’s jacket and grabbed the camera, then he vaulted back up to the rooftops. He jogged back along them in the general direction they’d come in, peering over the tiles until he spotted Nathalie below.

With a smile, Chat Noir backtracked a few streets and vaulted down to the ground. He detransformed and Plagg flew out of his ring, his bright green eyes narrowed.

‘No cataclysm?’

‘I think I would have killed the man if I’d used it. Besides, I’m pretty sure Ladybug isn’t using her lucky charm these days. Why are you so bothered? You’re less tired if I don’t use it.’

‘Precisely! That means I don’t need camembert!’

Adrien smiled and took a cheese cube out of his shirt pocket. ‘Like you need an excuse to eat.’

Plagg engulfed the snack in one gulp, then settled himself back in Adrien’s pocket. ‘Give me more warning next time you want to transform, though.’

‘I will. Come on, let’s go back.’

Adrien set off, walking back through the alleyways, stolen camera in hand, and Plagg’s head sticking out of his shirt pocket.

‘I heard you talking to Marinette before.’

Adrien rolled his eyes. ‘Here we go…’

‘Maybe you should save the dirty talk for the bedroom.’

‘It wasn’t dirty talk!’ Adrien said, blushing.

‘You asked the girl to buy underwear for you! How is it not?’

‘And this conversation is over.’ He gently poked Plagg back into his pocket just as he emerged from the alleyway and Nathalie saw him straight away.

‘Where did you get to? And why do you have the photographer’s camera?’

‘Someone stole it, so I went after them. Didn’t you see?’

She stared at him in surprise for a moment. ‘No…’

‘Well, I got it back. Let’s finish this photo shoot.’

Nathalie eyed her ward suspiciously as photos were taken of him. There had to be more to it than that.

…

As soon as Adrien got back to the house, he jogged upstairs, shut himself in his bedroom, and turned on Skype. His conversation with Marinette had ended very abruptly, and she deserved a proper explanation.

She picked up the call a moment later, an uncertain smile on her face when her image filled Adrien’s middle monitor. ‘Hello again.’

‘Hi. I’m so sorry about before.’

‘What happened?’

‘Some guy ran off with the photographer’s camera, so I chased him and ended up turning into Chat Noir to get it back.’

Marinette’s eyes widened. ‘Adrien! You told Master Fu that you wouldn’t transform in the day time.’

‘I know,’ he said with a sigh. They had agreed just after he moved to Switzerland that he would still be allowed to transform into Chat Noir and go out on patrol, but only at night, when no one would really be able to see him. ‘I didn’t speak to the man, and as soon as I got the camera back, I left. No one else saw me. Well, at least I don’t think so.’

‘But what if someone did? What do we do then?’

Adrien bit his lip when he saw the panicked look on his girlfriend’s face. ‘No one will have. I’m certain of it. If they really did, then I’ll handle it, okay? I’m sorry for worrying you. And I’m sorry for what I said this afternoon.’

Marinette cocked her head. ‘Why? What did you say?’

‘The thing about the underwear.’

Her face coloured up pink. ‘I didn’t mind you saying that…’

‘I won’t do it in public- hey, wait, what?’ he asked, only just registering what she had said. ‘You didn’t mind me talking about underwear with you?’

‘Well, maybe we shouldn’t discuss it in public again, but I was okay with you saying what you said.’

Adrien shifted in his desk chair slightly. ‘Did you buy some then?’

She shook her head and her blush darkened. ‘I-I wasn’t sure what you would like.’

‘Buy what you would like, not what I would I like. Besides, you’d look gorgeous in anything. But please don’t feel like you even have to buy anything at all.’ He bit his lip as he paused. ‘Are you more comfortable talking about this kind of stuff now then?’

She averted her gaze. ‘A little. I don’t want to leave you waiting.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

She didn’t elaborate any further, having clammed up out of embarrassment, so they spent a minute in silence until Adrien realised what she was implying.

‘Baby… are you worried that if we don’t do more soon that I’ll want to leave you?’

She nodded. It was only a small one, and a seemingly reluctant one at that, but a nod nonetheless. ‘Not that I think you’re the kind of person to do that, but I hear the way boys at school talk about girls. And it just made me worried.’

Adrien shook his head. Him trying to get Marinette more comfortable when talking about sex and related issues had obviously been interpreted by her as him maybe wanting to hurry her into doing things with him. He felt awful. ‘Well, you’re right, I’m not that sort of person, and I would never force anyone, you or otherwise, into doing anything. _Especially_ not you. I love you, and I don’t mind if you never want to do anything remotely sexual again.’ He looked away from the webcam. ‘At my Halloween party… did you not want to do that?’

Marinette gasped. ‘No, I did, Adrien. I did, I promise I did. I’m just worried that we’re not thinking about… sexual stuff at the same pace as each other.’

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at his girlfriend. ‘Well, no, I don’t think we are. But that’s okay. I know I’m thinking ahead, but we’ll go at your pace. I’m sorry. I thought by talking about sex with you would make you gradually more comfortable when discussing it.’

‘It’s not your fault. I should have just asked in the first place.’

He gave her a small smile. ‘Tell you what, I won’t bring up sex anymore, but anytime you want to talk about it, you can initiate it. How does that sound?’

She stared at him with one eyebrow cocked. ‘That sounds like the worst possible idea you’ve ever had, Agreste. Just… keep doing what you’re doing.’

He smirked at her. ‘So, what underwear did you have in mind then?’

Marinette rolled her eyes. ‘You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be quite a bit longer, so it'll take longer to write. I hope you all understand! :*
> 
> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has to face a tough incident alone as Ladybug.

**Friday 23 rd November**

Marinette yawned as she emerged from her science class. She wouldn’t usually be so tired, but she had stayed up later than usual to talk to Adrien. He’d decided to continue with his Chinese lessons whilst in Bern, which now meant their Skype calls on Thursday nights would run a little later so they could do homework together. It didn’t make much difference to either of them except that it made them both a little tired on Fridays. But it was fine. Going to sleep a little later was a small price to pay for spending time with her boyfriend.

She ambled into the school’s courtyard, following Alya and Nino to their usual picnic table to eat lunch, but halfway there, Alya gasped and stopped walking, and Marinette walked into her back.

‘Ow,’ Marinette said as she rubbed her head. ‘Why did you stop?’

Alya practically shoved her phone into Marinette’s face. ‘Look! A news alert for Ladybug!’

Marinette’s eyes widened. ‘What’s happened?’

‘A man has kidnapped his wife and baby after she tried to leave him. He’s in the eighth arrondissment, near Élysée Palace. Let’s go!’ She grabbed Marinette’s hand and pulled her out of the school and into the nearest metro station.

Marinette couldn’t stay here. The metro was probably the quickest way to get to the eighth arrondissment, but if she arrived with Alya, it would be harder to run off and transform. The sooner she could shake Alya, the better.

As they waited for the train, the platform filled with Parisians, all heading somewhere for lunch. She could lose Alya in this crowd. Slowly, Marinette took a few steps away from her best friend, and when the train pulled into the station, Alya got on, along with the majority of the crowd, but Marinette dashed out of the tunnel and back up to street level.

She darted into the nearest alleyway and Tikki flew out of her coin purse. ‘That was a good getaway, Marinette!’ the kwami said.

‘Thanks, Tikki,’ Marinette said sleepily. ‘Spots on!’ With a flash of pink, Marinette transformed into Ladybug. She took out her yoyo and lassoed herself up to the roof of one of the buildings she was stood next to. She ran along the rooftops, lassoing herself using lampposts wherever there were large gaps.

The closer she got to the eight arrondissment, the louder the sirens got, and a moment later, Ladybug was stood on the pavement outside Élysée Palace, next to Officer Raincomprix.

He jumped in surprise when he saw her, then grabbed Ladybug’s hand and pulled her to duck behind the nearest police car.

‘Erm, what’s going on?’ the superhero asked, peering around, noticing for the first time that the road by the palace was blocked off at both ends, and there were another five police cars, one of which they were hid behind, parked between them, and they were all facing the road that was perpendicular to the palace.

‘A man has kidnapped his wife and child. They’re in that car.’

Ladybug peered over the bonnet and saw another car parked down the perpendicular road. ‘Okay… go and get them then?’

‘He has a gun. And… he’s a police officer.’

She nodded, understanding the large police presence now. ‘Right, and why do you need me?’ she asked. She felt bad for the woman and baby, but she didn’t want to be here if there were guns. She’d been petrified last time, and the gun hadn’t been real. If this man was a police officer, the gun was more likely real.

‘This is going to sound stupid and kind of sexist, but I think he’d be more receptive to a woman. He generally gets on well with them, more so than he does with men.’

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. ‘And you have no female operatives?’

Officer Raincomprix sighed. ‘One of our female detectives is getting married, and she invited all of the other female officers on her hen do. To Nice. They’ve already left for the weekend. You’re the only woman we have left on our team.’

Ladybug sighed. ‘Okay, fair enough. But why are you hiding me?’

‘He really likes Ladybug, so he’ll probably listen to you. But I only want to use you as a last resort since there’s a real gun involved. It’s best to keep you hidden for now until the last possible moment. I have no idea how he’ll react if he sees you.’

She nodded and Officer Raincomprix reached through the open window of the car they were crouched by and brought out a bulletproof vest along with a walkie talkie.

‘I take it Chat Noir isn’t joining us again today,’ he asked as Ladybug put on the vest.

‘No. And he probably won’t be until Christmas.’ A pang went through her chest as she said it: she wouldn’t get to see her boyfriend until then. But she had to forget about that for now. She wouldn’t let that distract her from the current situation.

‘Can I ask why?’

Ladybug shrugged as she slotted the walkie talkie into the bullet proof vest’s hip strap. ‘He’s been through something traumatic and he needs a break. He’ll be back with us full time in July.’

Officer Raincomprix’s eyes widened. ‘That’s months away!’

‘I know,’ she said with a sigh. She really didn’t want to think about this at the moment.

Officer Raincomprix’s expression softened. ‘I’m sure things will be fine between the two of you.’

Ladybug managed a small smile. ‘Thank you, sir.’

‘Okay, here’s the plan. I want to you be as discreet as possible and go up to the roof of one of the buildings near where the man is. Listen on the walkie talkie to what we’re saying, but do not reply. He’ll be able to hear you, too. We’re going to try some hostage negotiation, but if it doesn’t work, I’ll call for you to join in the conversation. Clear?’

Ladybug nodded. ‘What are their names?’

‘My officer is Jean, his wife is called Claire, and his baby daughter is Elodie. Anything else you need to know?’

‘No, I think that’s everything. I’ll drop the vest and walkie back in the patrol car when we’re done.’

He nodded. ‘Just be discreet when you go up to the roof. The press and public are being held back by the two cars, but I can’t promise how quiet they’ll be if they see you.’

She nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll see you in a bit.’

Ladybug crawled around the police cars, and when she got to the end, she darted across the road to the nearest building. She took out her yoyo and lassoed herself up to the roof, and thankfully, the crowd who had surely seen her by now hadn’t cheered. They’d stayed silent, and Jean gave no sign that he’d seen her either.

Keeping low, the teenage superhero crept along the rooftops, stopping when she was on the one nearest the car. She could see the family in there, and Jean and Claire seemed like they were talking, Elodie in the arms of her mother. It would have looked like they were having a normal conversation if Claire’s eyes weren’t wide with fright as Jean gesticulated with a gun in his had. Ladybug really wanted a good outcome from this. She wouldn’t be able to cope if anything bad happened to them, including Jean.

The walkie talkie on her hip crackled and took it off, listening intently as Officer Raincomprix asked to speak to Jean. She’d tried to reason with akumatised people before, but their logic had always been warped due to the akuma and Hawk Moth’s control, and it had never really worked before. But it had to work this time. If it didn’t, someone could get seriously hurt.

‘What do you want now?’ Jean said, and Ladybug watched through the car window as the man glared out of the front window, the gun now pointed at his wife.

‘I’m just checking on you. How are you feeling?’

‘Fucking awful. She wants to leave me, sir. Where am I even supposed to go from here?’

It was obvious that there was more to this situation than Claire just wanting to leave her husband. From what he was saying, he sounded hopeless, like he had depression. He had probably been bottling all of this up for months and it had all come to a head with Claire’s revelation. There was a lot more to this situation.

‘Calm down, sergeant-’

‘Calm down?! How can I possibly be calm when my wife wants to fucking leave me?!’

Claire held the baby tighter, and Elodie began to cry. Ladybug could hear her sobs through the walkie talkie, but they were so loud that she could hear them on the street. This was hard to watch.

‘Officer-’ Claire said, just loud enough to be heard on the walkie talkie, and then there was the click of a gun as it was loaded.

‘Shut the fuck up! Don’t talk to him! Is he the reason why you’re leaving me? Were you fucking my boss?! Get out of the car!’

Ladybug watched as Jean reached across Claire to open her door, then still pointing the gun at her, he got out and jogged around to the other side of the car.

Claire got out, shaking, and Elodie’s cries filled the entire street. Jean stood behind them, the gun held to his wife’s head, the other hand holding the walkie talkie.

‘Happy now, Officer Raincomprix? Now you can see your fucking whore.’

Jean shoved the butt of the gun into his wife’s head and Claire whimpered loud that it was audible over the walkie talkie.

‘Jean, I promise you, I’ve barely ever spoken to your wife, let alone slept with her. You’re being ridiculous.’

Ladybug gritted her teeth. That was definitely the wrong thing to say.

‘Ridiculous?! We’ll see how ridiculous you think it is when your mistress is dead!’

‘No!’

‘Jean?’

His finger stuttered on the gun’s trigger. ‘Who is this?’

‘Ladybug.’

He looked this way and that, but moved the gun away from Claire’s head. ‘Where are you?’

‘I’m on a building. You can’t see me. But I want to help. If I come down, can you promise not to use that gun?’

He hesitated. ‘I’m not promising that. I-I need it.’

‘I understand. Can I come down there and talk to you, though?’

‘Y-yes. Just don’t get too close.’

‘I won’t.’

Officer Raincomprix shouted up to her from the pavement then. ‘Ladybug! Disengage!’

She ignored him, left her walkie talkie on the rooftop, then jumped onto the pavement below.

Jean saw her immediately and his hands shook.

She smiled at him.

He didn’t.

She moved slowly, not even bothering to look behind her where the police were, and stood in the centre of the road, directly opposite Jean, five metres between them. ‘Can you hear me from me here?’

He nodded.

‘That’s good. I’m just going to check on Claire.’ Ladybug turned to her now. She hadn’t got a chance before, but the woman was shaking and her eyes were red, probably from crying. ‘Are you okay? Physically? Just nod if you are.’

She nodded.

‘And Elodie?’

Another nod.

‘And you, Jean? Are you okay?’

He nodded.

‘That’s really good. Now, Jean, can you tell me why you’re doing this?’

The hand holding the gun twitched. ‘Because she’s leaving me, and she’s taking my daughter with her. I can’t allow that. I’m nothing without them!’

Ladybug nodded. ‘Okay, and did Claire say why she was leaving you?’

‘She didn’t have to! I know she’s cheating on me!’

‘I would never!’ Claire dared to turn her head slightly to look at her husband. ‘I love you, Jean, but ever since Elodie was born, you’ve changed. You’ve become toxic. I can’t be around that anymore.’

Jean’s bottom lip quivered, as if he was about to cry. ‘Then _you_ won’t have to be.’

He dropped the walkie talkie and reached for Elodie, who was still crying, and Claire screeched, trying to keep a grip on her baby, but Jean won, and Claire fell to the ground from the struggle. He pointed the gun at his wife, his baby held to his chest, and Ladybug took a step forwards.

Jean noticed, though, and he turned the gun on her now, his hand not even shaking slightly. ‘Stay back!’

‘Jean-’ Claire started to say, but Ladybug held out her hand and she stopped.

‘You need to think about what you’re about to do,’ the teenager said and Jean began to cry.

‘I know exactly what I’m about to do and-’ He froze, apparently staring at something over Ladybug’s shoulder. ‘Everyone knows now, so I have to do this.’

Ladybug turned around briefly and saw that the public and press that had previously been held back were now stood in front of Élysée Palace, watching in silence.

By the time she turned back around, Jean had the gun pointed back at Claire and his finger was on the trigger.

Ladybug had to do something. She ran forwards, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion then. Jean saw her, moved his hand, and then the gun went off.

…

Adrien had no idea that Ladybug was popular in Switzerland. Or if they even knew that much about her, to be honest. No one at his Halloween party seemed to know who Marinette had been dressed as. So he was very surprised when at lunchtime, Noelle jumped up from her seat and started logging onto their teacher’s computer and brought up the Ladyblog. They didn’t usually eat in their classroom, they usually are outside, but it was raining, so they had opted to stay in class and eat there. And if they had eaten outside, he probably wouldn’t have found out about this until much later.

He watched the live feed from Alya’s phone, practically frozen to his seat. He hadn’t received a text from Marinette to say something came up. It must have been urgent.

‘Yo, peeps, Alya here, live from Paris with the one and only Ladyblog!’ she whispered, but still seemed as excited as usual. ‘I’m outside Élysée Palace and Ladybug has been called to the scene. A police officer has kidnapped his wife and baby and is holding them at gunpoint in his car.’

Adrien’s eyes widened impossibly and he felt bile rise in his throat. This couldn’t be happening.

‘We have to be quiet, though, so I won’t be able to talk for the rest of the feed until it’s over. Let’s watch!’

Adrien held his breath, watching as a moment later, his Lady climbed up a building. Wearing a bulletproof vest. This wasn’t good. Not at all.

The feed continued, but from where Alya was stood, she couldn’t see much apart from several police cars and Officer Raincomprix. But then there was shouting, and Alya suddenly moved. That’s when Ladybug came into view again. This time, she was stood in the centre of the road. A few metres away from her stood a man, holding a gun and a baby, and there was a woman on the ground at his feet. He was pointing the gun at her.

Adrien could only stare as Ladybug ran forwards, then a moment later, she was flung backwards, the sound of the gun shot ringing in Adrien’s ears.

She had been shot.

Ladybug.

His Marinette.

She’d been shot.

Adrien ran from the room and straight to the bathroom, where he proceeded to throw up. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand when he finished, but stayed leant over the toilet bowl as he started to cry. He couldn’t believe what he’d just seen. He didn’t even know where she’d been shot. She could be _dead._

Plagg flew out of his pocket. ‘Kid… I’m sorry, I… the miraculous suit will have absorbed some of the damage, even without the bullet proof vest.’

He sobbed harder. ‘N-not if he shot her in the h-head…’

Plagg patted his shoulder. ‘Well, where did he shoot her? I couldn’t make it out. She might not be…’ He didn’t bother finishing his sentence, he just let it hang in the air. They both knew what the word at the end was going to be.

Adrien wiped away his tears, stuffed Plagg back into his pocket, and ran back to class.

The projector screen was now showing a distant shot of Ladybug sat in an ambulance, and with a pair of tweezers, a paramedic took a bullet out of the centre of her bulletproof vest. Right underneath it was where her heart would have been. But she was alive. That was the main thing.

‘Adrien?’

He whipped his head around and saw that the rest of his class were staring at him, all looking concerned and confused.

‘You okay, man?’ Noah asked.

Adrien nodded. ‘Yeah, I… I’m going home.’

‘What?! You can’t just go!’

Adrien sniffed as he grabbed his school bag from around his desk. ‘I can and I will.’

Noah shouted after him, but Adrien left the classroom and walked out of school. It was still raining, and there was an umbrella in his bag, but he didn’t get it out. He got out his phone instead and rang Nathalie as he started walking in the direction of the train station.

‘Hi, Adrien,’ she said when she picked up.

‘W-where are you?’ he asked. He had started to cry again.

‘At home. Why?’ she paused. ‘Are you crying, Adrien? What’s wrong?’

‘I… I need you to pack me a bag. With some clothes and stuff for the weekend. I’m going to Paris. Now.’

He heard the chair she was sat on scrape back as she stood up. ‘What? Why? Adrien, it’s the middle of the school day. You can’t just leave!’

‘I-I have to. It’s Marinette. She’s been hurt. Badly.’

Nathalie gasped. ‘Oh, god, okay. I’ll get everything together, and I’ll have the Gorilla drive me to the station, and I’ll ring the school, too, okay?’

‘Okay. Thank you.’ He went to hang up, but put the phone back to his ear. ‘Nathalie?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I love you.’

There was a pause. ‘I love you, too, Adrien.’

He hung up and continued to walk in the rain, hoping that would help clear his head, but the closer he got to the train station, the worse his heart felt. All those times he’d seen her get hurt before as Ladybug were hard enough to watch then, but now, when he was her boyfriend and was miles away and could have helped if he hadn’t been so selfish and moved away… he felt so guilty.

When he got to the station, Nathalie was stood outside, holding a duffel bag, and the Gorilla was stood beside her, holding a massive umbrella that was covering them both.

Nathalie saw him first and she jogged towards him. They met in a hug and stood together in the rain like that for a few moments until the Gorilla caught up and covered the three of them with the umbrella. He put his other arm around Adrien and he cried harder. Marinette couldn’t tell her family what had happened to her. No one could know. He was the only one. He had to be there for her.

‘It’s okay…’ Nathalie whispered, then kissed the side of his head, then she pulled away a little, but still kept her arms around Adrien. ‘What’s happened to Marinette?’

‘She’s hurt, really badly. I have to go to her.’

Nathalie nodded. ‘I understand. Here.’ She took a train ticket out of her pocket. ‘I bought it for you already. It’s a return, so you need to get the train home on Sunday, okay? And I rang your school. I said you had an emergency dental appointment and they were fine with it. And I’ve packed some things for you. Two outfits, your pyjamas, your phone charger, and your toiletries. Please text me when you arrive in Paris, and also let me know what time you will need picking up from the station on Sunday.’ She hugged Adrien again. ‘Whatever happened to Marinette, she will be okay.’

Adrien could only nod as his carer pulled back again to wipe away his tears. ‘Thank you, Nathalie.’

‘It’s no problem. Now, go on. The next train to Paris is in a few minutes. Platform three.’

She handed him the duffel and he dashed into the station with it. He went to platform three, and sure enough, the train to Paris was just pulling in as he got there. He jumped on immediately, and as soon as he had got settled in a seat – or as settled as he could be in wet clothes – he took out his phone. He rewatched the video on Alya’s blog and tears filled his eyes as saw his girlfriend get shot again. The paramedic hadn’t seemed too concerned when she had let Ladybug go, and she had simply dropped her vest and walkie talkie in a patrol car before she left the scene.

Alya and Nadia tried to talk to her, but Ladybug had ignored them and spoke to nobody as she left.

Adrien knew she was in pain, whether it was physical, mental, or both. He couldn’t wait to get to Paris so he could not only comfort her, but reassure himself that his Lady was alive.

…

Marinette didn’t bother going back to school. To say she didn’t feel like it would be an understatement.

As soon as she’d left the scene, she lassoed across the city before slumping down in an alleyway. She detransformed and Tikki sat beside her, and all Marinette did for an hour was hold her hand to her chest where the bullet had hit her. She kept reliving that moment in her head. The sharp pain that went through her chest after being shot, the force of it pushing her back, and then the thud as she landed on the ground. She hadn’t been injured. Her suit and the vest had seen to that. But she could have been. And the pain from the blow only served to remind her of that.

Her phone rung in her bag for what seemed like the fortieth time but Marinette ignored it.

‘You should answer that,’ Tikki said, flying up to Marinette’s eye line.

Marinette shook her head. ‘I don’t want to.’ Even so, she took out her mobile and put it on silent without even looking at who had called. She dropped the phone into the base of her school bag, then stood up. ‘Come on. Let’s go for a walk.’

Tikki flew back into her coin purse and Marinette started to wander, not knowing where she was going and only one thought on her mind: she could have died.

By 7:30pm, she had walked around most of Paris and found herself back at school. It was closed now, but she sat down on the steps leading up to it and finally checked her phone.

She had missed calls. Ten from Alya. Twenty from her dad. Thirty from her mum. Seventy from Adrien. _Adrien._ She couldn’t tell him yet. But he obviously knew something had happened. He wouldn’t call her that many times just because she’d missed their Skype call. But she couldn’t worry him. She should keep this to herself. And she should also head home.

‘Hey, you okay?’

Marinette looked up and saw a boy stood in front of her. He was about her age, maybe a little older, and she had never seen him before. ‘Ermmm… y-yeah. I’m just…’ she shrugged. ‘Anyway, sorry… I’m going to go home.’ She stood up and made to walk past him, but he stepped back and in front of her.

‘Don’t go just yet. I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I knew a pretty girl like you was upset.’

She gave him a fake smile, starting to feel a little uncomfortable now. ‘I’m really fine. Don’t worry about it.’ She went to walk away again, but the guy grabbed her wrist.

‘Come on, don’t be like that! Let’s go somewhere! I can cheer you up! Let’s go to a bar.’

‘I’m not even old enough to be let in one, and you’re hurting my wrist. Let go of me.’ She usually wouldn’t be so terse, but it was getting dark, no one was around, and after the day she’d had, Marinette really didn’t need this right now.

He just smirked. ‘That’s fine. I’m sure I could get us in somewhere.’

‘Did you not hear me?! You’re hurting me!’ She tried to break out of his grip, but he tightened his hold on her.

‘I’m not. You’re just being sensitive. You can’t lead me on like this and expect me to leave you alone.’

‘W-what?’ Marinette stared at him, confused. ‘How have I led you on?’

‘You were sat there all upset! You obviously wanted someone to comfort you. And I know what kind of comfort you really need.’

He started to pull Marinette closer to him then, which was when she really started to struggle, but she didn’t have to for long.

‘Oi.’

They both turned their heads, and Marinette’s heart stuttered in her chest at the sight of Adrien. He looked tired and worn, and a duffel bag was slung over one of his shoulders. ‘Adrien…’ she whispered.

The guy holding her wrist scoffed. ‘Like you know him. Come on, stop struggling and let’s go.’

‘No, I-’

Adrien ran forwards then and grabbed the guy by his shirt collar and held him against the wall of the school. ‘I do believe the lady told you to leave her alone,’ he said, his voice low and scary. Marinette had never heard him speak like that.

‘But she-’

Adrien tightened his grip and lifted the guy further up the brick wall. ‘She. Said. No.’ He let go of him then, and the guy fell to the ground with a thump.

He scrambled to get up, and then ran off, but Adrien stayed stood where he was, staring at the wall, completely unmoving.

Slowly, Marinette approached him. ‘Adrien? What-’

He turned around then and she saw that he had begun to cry. ‘W-why didn’t you tell me?’

‘Tell you?’

‘I saw it,’ he sobbed. ‘On the Ladyblog. Alya filmed the whole thing. And someone put it on in class and I had to sit there and watch my girlfriend get shot!’

There was a moment of silence, broken by a passing car, then Marinette closed her eyes and fell to the ground, now crying, too. ‘I’m sorry. I-I couldn’t. Because as soon as I told you, I knew you would want to come back to Paris. And you can’t be here yet. You’re not ready.’

Adrien slumped to the ground in front of her. ‘I don’t care about what my dad did,’ he said, voice a lot softer. ‘Not when you’ve been shot at. If I hadn’t been so selfish and moved away, then-’

She looked up then and cupped the side of Adrien’s face. ‘Don’t you dare, Agreste. This wasn’t your fault.’

He reached out and his hand went to her chest, right where the bullet had hit her. ‘Are you hurt?’

Marinette shook her head. ‘There’s no mark. But I can feel it. The force. The pain. But I’m not hurt.’

He hugged her then and the couple cried together like that, sat on the ground outside their high school.

‘I was so scared that I lost you,’ he whispered into her hair, and Marinette could only nod. She understood. If she had found out Adrien had been shot, she would get on the first train to Bern. His reaction was completely justified. She should have rung him.

‘I-I’m sorry for not calling you back,’ she whispered. ‘I just needed some time on my own. To process what happened.’

‘I understand. And I’m sorry for shouting at you.’

Marinette shook her head. ‘Don’t be. I deserved it.’

Adrien pulled back then and cupped one of Marinette’s cheeks. ‘Don’t ever say that again. No one deserves to be shouted at.’

She nodded and her eyes fell to the duffel bag that had been abandoned on the ground. ‘Are you staying for the weekend?’

‘If it’s okay with you? And your parents?’

Marinette couldn’t help but smile. ‘I’m sure they’ll be fine with it. I’m just glad you’re here.’

‘Me, too.’ He kissed her lightly on the lips. ‘I won’t be letting you out my sight this whole weekend, though, I hope you realise that.’

‘That’s fine with me.’

Adrien helped Marinette to stand, then he grabbed his duffel and took his girlfriend’s hand in his. They continued across the road to the bakery, walking slowly and their bodies leaning against each other. Last time they’d walked through Paris like this was the last day of August. Marinette had thought she wouldn’t get to do this again until Christmas. And even though the circumstances weren’t great, she was glad Adrien was here.

The bakery had been closed for hours now, so they went around to the side entrance. Marinette led him inside, and as soon as the door shut behind them, there was thumping on the floor above them.

A moment later, Marinette’s parents appeared at the top of the stairs, both of them looking relieved at the sight of their daughter.

‘Marinette! Where have you been?!’

‘We’ve been worried sick!’

Marinette opened her mouth to explain, but Adrien beat her to it. ‘She’s been with me. I picked her up from school as a surprise.’

Tom and Sabine saw him then and Sabine rushed forwards to bring her daughter and Adrien into a hug. ‘That’s fantastic. But please ring next time,’ she said, staring pointedly at Marinette.

‘Sorry, mum.’

The hug ended and Tom cleared his throat. ‘Where will you be staying, Adrien?’ he asked with a clenched jaw.

Sabine tutted. ‘Here, of course. You can share a bed with Marinette.’

Tom went red in the face and protested, but Sabine only rolled her eyes. ‘They sleep together when they’re in Bern! Here is no different!’ She turned to the two teenagers. ‘Why don’t you both go and but your pyjamas on? You both look like you’ve had a long day. And we’ll make a start on dinner.’

Marinette and Adrien went upstairs, both of them ignoring Tom’s pointed looks, and continued up to Marinette’s bedroom.

As soon as the hatch shut, Adrien turned to his girlfriend. ‘D-do you think I could see your chest? Just to put my mind at rest. Not for… that.’

Marinette smiled. ‘Of course.’ She opened her coin purse to let Tikki out, who flew straight into Adrien’s shirt pocket, then unhooked it from her body. She shrugged off her blazer, then took off her shirt.

Her chest was the same as that night in his bedroom after the Halloween party, except this time, she was wearing a white bra with tiny pink ribbons on it. That was the only difference. The rest of her chest was milky white. There wasn’t even a blemish where the bullet had hit her. He tentatively reached out and placed his hand in the centre, just above her breasts. ‘Here?’ he whispered.

‘There.’

He nodded and removed his hand. ‘Cute bra, by the way.’

Marinette blushed and put her shirt back on.

‘Does it hurt as much now?’

She shook her head and sat down on her chaise. ‘No. I can just feel the pressure. The vest and the miraculous suit saved me.’

‘Speaking of which,’ Adrien said as he put his duffel bag down and sat beside his girlfriend. ‘I think you should talk to Master Fu about giving Rena Rouge her miraculous permanently.’

Marinette’s eyes widened. ‘Do you really think so?’

‘Yes. It was hard leaving you here knowing you’d have to fight alone, but after today… I don’t think I can go back to Bern without knowing you’ll be with someone who has your back.’

She nodded: she knew he was right. ‘Okay. We can go and see Master Fu tomorrow.’ She looked down at her lap. ‘Officer Raincomprix has my back, too, just so you know. He might not be great at his job, but he’s there for me. And he asked me about you, too. He knows you won’t be back until July.’

‘Then maybe I should pay him a visit and tell him not to call you to a situation where there are guns involved.’

Marinette leant against Adrien’s shoulder. ‘He always makes me wear a bullet proof vest.’

‘But that won’t save you if you’re shot in the head.’

‘I know.’

Adrien kissed the top of his girlfriend’s head. ‘Come on, let’s put our pyjamas on.’

Marinette nodded and grabbed her pyjamas from the wardrobe – the shirt of Adrien’s she usually wore at night was on her bed, but she was sure her parents didn’t want to see her wearing that. She went into her ensuite, then Adrien walked over to his duffle.

As he did, Tikki and Plagg flew out of his pocket, their arms wrapped around each other.

‘Feeling better now, kid?’

‘Much. Do you think I overreacted?’

Tikki shook her head. ‘No. She should have called you as soon as it was over. But at the same time, she knew what she was getting into when she accepted the Ladybird miraculous in the first place. Both of you will be in danger until you give them up, which you know, but neither of you have done it. She understands the risks, as do you. You can’t protect her from everything, Adrien.’

He bowed his head. ‘I know. I just feel guilty that I’m not here to protect her. If I hadn’t been selfish and moved to Switzerland-’

‘Then I would have never confessed and you wouldn’t be standing here.’

Adrien turned around and saw Marinette stood in the doorway of the bathroom. ‘I’m sorry, but if I’d been there today, I could have protected you.’

She shook her head and came over to him. ‘Even if today’s events had taken a different turn because you had been there, it wouldn’t have made a difference if I had been shot. Chat Noir can’t stop a bullet.’

‘He should be able to…’ he grumbled and Marinette giggled.

‘Silly kitty. Come on, get changed. And don’t feel guilty.’ She went back into the bathroom, and once the two teenagers had their pyjamas on, they went downstairs and helped Tom and Sabine to finish cooking before they all ate together.

After dinner, the teenage couple went back up to Marinette’s room and climbed into bed, and after only a few minutes of cuddling, Adrien’s lady was asleep. It was no wonder. She’d had one hell of a day, and him turning up like that had probably scared the life out of her. But he was glad he came. There was only so much he could do to comfort her when he was in a different country; and when she’d been shot, the only way he could possibly comfort her was by being with her physically.

Adrien looked down at the precious girl in his arms and he felt his heart thumping in his chest just from the sight of her. He could never understand how she could be so strong and powerful whilst being so lithe and graceful. She was amazing. His amazing princess. And he’d be damned if anyone was going to take her away from him. He tightened his grip on her as his possessiveness took over, suddenly remembering the boy outside Dupont. He would do anything to protect Marinette, and whilst he couldn’t do much whilst he was in Switzerland, he would make up for it tenfold when he came back to Paris properly. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he needed to make a grand gesture, a big promise, something to show how much he cared about her. But it wasn’t urgent. He had until July to come up with something.

…

**Saturday 24 th November**

Marinette woke up with a little squeak, and as she went to roll around in bed, like she usually did when she woke, she was held in place by arms around her waist. She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Adrien, or rather, Adrien’s chest, in front of her. How could she have forgotten that he was here? She happily nuzzled back into his hold, then jerked away slightly after she realised that his chest was bare. Not that he would mind her touching him there. He’d made that very clear.

She managed to shuffle away from him a little bit without leaving his arms, then she placed one of her hands on his upper chest. He was warm, and she could feel his heart beat beneath her fingers. She was so grateful he was here. If he had been the one in the firing line yesterday… it didn’t bear thinking about how she would have felt. But he was here for her now and that’s what mattered.

She placed a light kiss to where she could feel his heart beat, then she let her hand trail downwards, tracing the line of his abs. he really had become well built in comparison to the scrawny model he once was. And his strength… to say that she didn’t find it hot whenever he held her up against would be a complete lie.

‘Are you enjoying yourself, princess?’

Marinette withdrew her hand quickly at the sound of her boyfriend’s deep sleep-ridden voice and blushed. She had thought he was asleep.

‘I asked you a question,’ Adrien said, squeezing her waist slightly. ‘Were you enjoying yourself?’

She nodded and he hummed before bringing her to lie back against his chest. ‘What were you thinking about?’ he asked.

‘How much I like it when you hold me against a wall,’ she mumbled, and she felt the vibration of his chuckle against her cheek.

‘I’m sure that can be arranged for later. Would you like that?’

Marinette nodded, then curled her head into Adrien’s chest. Like he said, she was more open to answering these kinds of questions when she was drifting in and out of sleep, but she didn’t want to talk about this now. All she really wanted was just to lie in silence with the man she loved more than anything else.

Adrien understood without her having to tell him and they lay there for half an hour or so before Marinette finally sat up.

Her boyfriend stayed led down, though, and she turned to look at his face for the first time that morning. His blond hair was tousled perfectly from sleep, and his eyes were only half open, clouded with sleep and looking up at her as if she was the most precious person on earth.

‘What?’ she asked.

He shrugged. ‘I just love you and I can’t wait to wake up with you every morning for the rest of our lives.’

She blushed at the implication of that, but leant down and kissed him in the tip of his nose. ‘We’ve got through a third of our time apart. We can do this. And I love you, too.’ She climbed down from the bed, grabbed her clothes from the wardrobe, and got changed in the bathroom. When she was ready, she went back into her bedroom and Adrien was fully dressed, sat on the chaise with Tikki and Plagg on his knee.

‘Ready to go?’

The blond nodded and the two kwamis settled themselves into his shirt pocket, then they left the room.

They descended all the way down into the bakery, and Sabine greeted them both with a smile. ‘Good morning, you two! Grab whatever you want from the shop.’

‘Thanks, mum.’

They went through from the back and stepped behind the counter just as another batch of morning rush customers exited. Tom leant against the pastry case with a sigh, already tired, and Marinette bounced up to him.

‘Hi, dad!’

He turned around with a smile and kissed his daughter on the cheek. ‘Good morning, pumpkin.’ His eyes shifted to Adrien. ‘You two didn’t sleep together, did you?’

Marinette rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, we did. You know we did. We always do.’

Tom huffed. ‘He could have at least slept on the chaise…’

‘We didn’t do anything, Mr Dupain,’ Adrien said, getting a little nervous, but Marinette just rolled her eyes again.

‘You don’t need to worry, dad. Nathalie bought him condoms.’

Tom went red in the face. ‘She did _what_?!’

Marinette giggled and kissed her father on the cheek, then she reached around him and grabbed two croissants out of the pastry case. ‘Just kidding. See you later, dad!’

She grabbed Adrien’s hand and pulled him out of the bakery, the two teenagers laughing as they strolled down the street together.

‘I can’t believe you just told your dad that!’

Marinette smiled. ‘It’s only because he’s easy to wind up. I don’t know why he was so outraged though. Surely he’d want to us to use protection. Anyway, here you go.’ She handed him a croissant and they continued on down the street together in the direction of Master Fu’s as they ate.

The guardian opened the door as the two teenagers arrived, seemingly to collect the milk on his doorstep, but he stopped what he was doing when he saw them both.

‘Marinette! Adrien!’

They both greeted him with a hug and he ushered them inside. Once the door was shut, the trio went into the living room, but they stopped in the doorway when they saw that the news was showing on the television.

‘Nadja Chamack, here. Yesterday, right outside Élysée Palace, all of Paris watched with bated breath as Ladybug tried to stop Jean Bernard from murdering his wife and baby, only to end up being shot herself. Let’s watch the clip.’

Master Fu marched over to the television and switched it off before Alya’s video had the chance to play, then he turned to Marinette with a frown. ‘I’m glad you came over actually, because we need to talk about that.’

Marinette bowed her head. ‘I know, Master. That’s what we’re here about.’

He gestured for them to sit, and once the three were sat on the floor, and Tikki and Plagg were chatting quietly with Wayzz in the corner, Marinette began.

‘I thought I could handle what happened yesterday, but it got out of hand. The truth is, I’m struggling without Adrien as Chat Noir fighting with me, and I would like your permission to give Alya the fox miraculous on a permanent basis. I trust her just as much as I trust Adrien, and I know she would never abuse the power of the miraculous, which she’s shown time and time again over the years that I’ve called on her for help.’

Master Fu nodded. ‘Of course, you can give it her, Marinette. The next time you are struggling, though, please tell me. The akumas were hard to fight, and you fought them well, but the day-to-day crime in Paris can be nasty and vicious. I understand that you need extra help.’ He went over to the gramophone and unlocked it, then placed the fox tail necklace into a hexagonal box.

He handed it to Marinette, then turned to Adrien. ‘And why have you returned, young man? I do not feel as if you are ready to be back here.’

Adrien scratched the back of his neck. ‘I saw what happened to Marinette yesterday and I just had to get here. I couldn’t not. But I’ll be going back on Sunday night. I know my place right now is in Bern.’

Master Fu nodded. ‘Good. Now, a spot of tea perhaps?’

They stayed for a little longer, but after an hour, they left and walked down the street together hand in hand.

Marinette found herself leaning against Adrien and she sighed contently. This is what she had been missing. Spending all of these seemingly insignificant moments together that would probably seem mundane to others, but more than anything, she had missed being at his side.

‘You okay?’ Adrien asked and she nodded.

‘Yeah. It’s just been a while since we walked around Paris holding hands.’

With a smile, Adrien raised their joined hands to his lips and kissed his girlfriend’s knuckles gently. ‘Me, too. But I’m telling you now, you’ll be sick of the sight of me when I move back.’

‘I could never be. What did you want to do now? Go and see Nino?’

Adrien shook his head. ‘Maybe later. I want to show you something.’

‘Oh?’

He simply winked at her and they continued to walk, eventually entering the Tuileries District and heading down Rue Saint-Honoré.

‘Why have you brought me to the fashion district?’

‘Because I thought it was high time to show you around the fashion house.’

Marinette turned to Adrien, her eyes wide with excitement. ‘Really?!’

He nodded and she hugged him tightly, not caring for the way the shoppers on the busy street all turned to stare at them.

‘Thank you thank you thank you!’

‘It’s okay,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘I thought it might help you decide whether you wanted to go to university or straight into the industry. But be warned, they kind of get a bit high strung whenever they see me.’

They arrived at _Gabriel_ , which was set into the white brickwork with floor to ceiling glass windows. Inside, there was a stylish lady sat at a desk, typing away and taking phone calls, and behind her, Marinette could see more desks, various old _Gabriel_ designs and fabric swatches pinned to the walls next to them. There were a couple of clothes rails by the walls, and in the back, there was a set of stairs. Everyone was working hard and Marinette wasn’t sure if they should disturb them.

‘Will it be okay if we go in? They look busy.’

‘Ah, don’t worry about it. The new collection isn’t due to come out until February. And the senior designers are pretty relaxed these days.’

Still holding her hand, Adrien led Marinette inside _Gabriel_. The secretary looked away from her computer screen, then her eyes widened when she saw who it was and she stood up.

‘Mr Agreste!’

Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and all stood up, too, and Adrien chuckled nervously.

‘Hi, everyone. Please sit back down. Don’t let us disturb you. I’m just here to show my girlfriend around.’

The staff all exchanged a few nervous looks before they all reluctantly sat down and continued to work. Marinette bit her lip as she looked at them each. They were all gorgeous and ridiculously stylish. She couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated.

‘What does everyone do down here?’ Marinette whispered, not wanting to disturb them and embarrass herself.

‘A mixture of things. This side of the room,’ Adrien said, motioning to the side where the designs and swatches were on the walls, ‘are the junior designers. They assist the senior designers by helping them to draw, make muslins, and sometimes create custom fabrics if the design calls for it. The other side is for corporate. Marketing, publicity, accounting… that sort of stuff.’ Adrien pointed to one of the men sat near the front of the room. ‘That’s Auguste. He sorts out locations for photo shoots and books venues for catwalk events. Next to him is his brother, Aubert. He books models and photographers. I’m the only in house model they have, so we need extra for campaigns.’

Marinette nodded along, taking everything in as they went, and they eventually made their way upstairs. It didn’t seem like Adrien came here very often, but all of the staff respected him, and he knew a lot about the business. He was the CEO after all, but only by law, not because he wanted to be. But she felt as if he would be a brilliant CEO if he applied himself.

The first floor of the building was relatively quiet, with big open rooms that housed massive tables, which Adrien said were mainly used for making patterns and creating mock-ups.

‘Do you not make things in house here?’ Marinette asked, noticing the lack of sewing machines.

‘Only couture pieces are made here, ones specifically designed for celebrities who are willing to pay a ridiculous amount. It’s just too expensive to make it all in house. But it would be cool.’

They went up to the final floor of the fashion house, and this one was split into five offices.

‘We have four senior designers. It’s usually the responsibility of the master designer to create the collection with their assistance, but we obviously don’t have a master designer at the moment, so the current _Gabriel_ collections are all designed collaboratively by them. But they’re probably super busy, so we shouldn’t disturb them.’

He led the way down the hall to the last door, where there were two metal plates attached to it. One read “CEO and Master Designer” and the other had been partially taken off, but some of the metal must have snapped, and now it just said “Ga” and no one had bothered to take it down or replace it with Adrien’s name.

He winced when he saw it. ‘I’ll get someone to see to that later…’ he said as he stared at the door. It had been so long since he’d been in here.

‘Adrien?’

He turned to smile at Marinette. ‘Sorry. Let’s go in.’

He opened the door, for some reason expecting it to be incredibly different, but it was almost the same as that last day he’d been here. The desk was in the centre of the room, a leather chair behind it, and opposite it on the wall was a television, mainly used for conference calls. Beneath it was a slanted drawing board, an unfinished design from six years ago pinned to it. The rest of the room was bare and empty, the way his father liked it, and the only thing different was the stack of papers on the desk, which is what Nathalie had probably worked on the last time she was here.

Adrien wandered inside and sat down in his father’s leather chair. He had never been allowed to sit here before.

Marinette came over and sat down on the desk in front of him. ‘What’s on your mind?’ she asked.

Adrien sighed and wheeled over to her. When he was close enough, he rested his head in her lap and she began to comb her fingers through his hair. ‘I’m just remembering the last time I was here.’

‘Tell me?’

‘It was six years ago. I was still being home schooled. I had never been to a public school until I turned thirteen. So, me and my mum came to _Gabriel_ one afternoon to surprise my dad at work. He was really happy to see us even though we interrupted his work and we danced in his office together. Then mum started to cough up blood. We left straight away to go to the hospital, and the doctors told us she would die within a year. And she did. And dad never came back here. And he pretty much never smiled again.’

‘I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.’

‘Don’t be. It’s not your fault.’

‘Is that why you don’t want to be the CEO? Because of your dad?’

Adrien shook his head. ‘No. It’s a good company. I just don’t know much about fashion.’

Marinette smiled as she lightly scraped her nails against her boyfriend’s scalp. ‘I think you know more than you think you do.’

He just smiled. He did want to keep the company going, and he didn’t mind being the CEO and owner, but he was no designer. Maybe he could give that job that Marinette. But only after he changed the company’s name. The name of _Gabriel_ was not befitting of his Lady at all.

…

‘Want to go on patrol?’ Adrien asked. They had had lunch at _Gabriel,_ then they had gone round to Alya’s, where she was hanging out with Nino. The couple had been delighted to see them, and they spent the afternoon having fun, like they had done together all summer. They ate dinner with them, and after making sure Alya and Nino would come over to the bakery for breakfast, Adrien and Marinette left Alya’s family’s apartment just as the sun was setting.

Marinette turned to Adrien with a grin. ‘Of course.’

They ran into an alley and transformed in a flash of pink and green, and once they were Ladybug and Chat Noir, they stayed stood there, just looking at each other. The last time they had been the alter egos together was when Marinette had confessed. That was at the end of August. It felt so long ago to them.

Chat Noir stepped towards Ladybug then and began to kiss her as he backed her up against the wall of the alleyway. He had never really got the opportunity to kiss his Lady in her costume. He may as well do it now whilst he had the chance: he didn’t know when they would be able to be Ladybug and Chat Noir like this again.

Their kissing started slow and sweet, like it usually did, but then Chat Noir’s hands slipped lower, to Ladybug’s thighs, and lifted her up, his strong arms and the wall holding her up.

Ladybug pulled out of the kiss slightly. ‘Chat…’ she whispered, ‘if someone sees us-’

‘They won’t,’ he whispered back, then continued to kiss his princess, harder now. His time with her this weekend was half gone. He needed to show her how much he truly loved her, to give her something to remember him by until Christmas. Not that she could ever forget him.

He trailed his kisses down to Ladybug’s jaw and neck, sucking every so often, trying to leave marks, and Ladybug let out breathy little moans. Not as loud as she had been on the night of the Halloween party, but loud enough for him to hear.

She rocked her hips slightly into his and Chat Noir stopped kissing her to groan. This girl… she was incredible. He rose his head out of the crook of her neck to look at his Lady, and she was a sight to behold. Her bluebell eyes were half-closed beneath the mask, she had tiny marks on her neck, and the bell on his costume was nestled between her breasts. She was absolutely gorgeous, and Chat found that he couldn’t speak for a moment.

‘Baby,’ he whispered, ‘I love you.’

Ladybug smiled. ‘I love you, too.’

Chat Noir slowly let her down from the wall and they leant against each other, feeling the contours and curves of each other’s bodies through their tight costumes. Adrien’s time back in Paris was nearly over, and it had flown by. To some people, a weekend with just the two of them would drag, but to them, a weekend was nothing. It only felt like a second, a mere insignificant blip in time. It sounded dramatic and childish, but Marinette honestly didn’t know how she had managed to cope without Adrien so far, and she didn’t know how she would continue to either. But she would keep going. Because the life waiting for her in July would be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I was just wondering if you could help me with something? So, Marinette and Adrien both have a few more crimes to tackle as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and I have Adrien's all sorted out as his are more minor since people aren't supposed to know he's there. However, I'm really struggling for some for Marinette, so I was wondering if you have any ideas? They can be as traumatic as you like. To be honest, the more traumatic the better. It would be a great help! Plus it would also be a great way to see what kind of crime you would like to see Marinette tackle. Thank you! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> Lilac x
> 
>  
> 
> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette goes to see Master Fu.

**Friday 7 th December**

Adrien had been back in Bern for two weeks after his surprise visit, and in two more weeks, he would be back again to stay until the end of the first week of January. And Marinette knew that those two and a half weeks together would be amazing. But as she led in her bed that Friday morning, she didn’t know how much longer she could wait. As she lay there, her head was filled with thoughts of Adrien. She closed her eyes, remembering the feeling of his arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tight to his chest, pressing kisses into her hairline.

She felt tears pricking in her eyes and she reached for her phone. Her fingers hovered over Adrien’s name in her contacts. Should she bother her boyfriend with this? She knew she needed to get better at communicating, and she would tell him later, but she needed to be less reliant on him.

Marinette scrolled down to Alya’s name. Her best friend had unknowingly been helping her as Rena Rouge over the past two weeks. None of the crime alerts had been anywhere near as severe as the one two Fridays ago, but if she was being honest, Marinette was still struggling. She’d been carrying the secret of the Miraculous for five years now with only Tikki to really talk to. She had Adrien now, too, but she couldn’t put all of her problems on him. There had to be someone else.

She scrolled down to Master Fu’s contact and sent him a text.

_To: Master Fu_

_Can I come over for breakfast?_

He replied straight away.

_From: Master Fu_

_As long as you bring pain au chocolat!_

Marinette smiled and quickly got dressed, only just remembering to grab her school bag before she bounded downstairs and into the bakery.

Her dad was nowhere in sight, but her mum was loading a tray full of freshly baked macaroons into one of the pastry cases.

‘Good morning, darling! You’re up rather early.’

‘Yeah, I fancied a walk before school. Can I take some pain au chocolat?’

‘You know you can. Oh, if you pass a drug store on your walk, could you nip in and get me some baby wipes?’

‘Of course, mum.’ Marinette kissed her on the cheek, put two pain au chocolat in a paper bag, then walked to Master Fu’s.

When she arrived, Master Fu was once again, collecting the milk outside his house, and he greeted Marinette with a hug.

‘Ah, you brought the pastries! Let’s go inside.’

Marinette sat down in the front room with Tikki and Wayzz and once Master Fu made two cups of tea, he sat with her.

‘Was there something on your mind?’ he asked after he’d taken a bite of his pastry.

‘I just… I miss Adrien. I know I shouldn’t be coming to you with boy problems, but it goes further than him being my boyfriend. Just when I found him, found Chat Noir, he left the country, and I know he’s coming back, and I know I can talk to him whenever and about whatever, but I don’t want to put all of my problems onto him. But I’m struggling. I’ve been keeping my miraculous a secret for so long. I guess after the incident the other Friday, I’ve just realised that if I really did get seriously injured, how would I tell parents? _What_ would I tell them?’ Marinette sighed. ‘I’m just finding keeping this a secret hard.’

Master Fu took a sip of his tea. ‘Are you saying that you wish to relinquish the ladybird miraculous?’

‘No! Never. But it’s been five years. I’m struggling with not being able to tell anyone.’

He nodded. ‘I understand. I won’t pretend that it’s easy. The lies that come with keeping the miraculous safe can hurt people. It can ruin relationships, like you saw with me and Marianne, and it can tear apart whole families, like the Agreste’s. But you and Adrien know each other’s secrets and you can talk to each other about anything. As for your parents, if you were ever to get seriously hurt, which I sincerely hope would never happen, then I would tell them what you did for Paris, for your country. I know when I picked you to wield the ladybird miraculous you were young, you still are, but I wouldn’t have asked it of you if I didn’t think you were capable. And I know you are more than capable.

‘At the end of the day, if you don’t feel you can talk to Adrien about this, then you can talk to me, talk to Tikki, or you can talk to Alya. Not in civilian form of course, but when you’re on patrol. I’m sure she feels a similar way. She can’t tell her parents, her sister, her boyfriend. And she can’t tell her best friend about it either.’

Marinette smiled. ‘Yeah.’

‘You’re not alone in this, Marinette. And actually, I want you to be on the look out for someone else to keep a miraculous permanently.’

‘How come?’

‘There will always be crime in Paris, and bigger things will happen than what occurred on Friday, and I’m sure it’ll happen before Adrien returns. I don’t want you to be in danger like that again without the proper back up.’

Marinette nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll keep an eye out for someone.’

Once they finished breakfast, Marinette left Master Fu’s house. It was half an hour until school began, and the nearest drug store wasn’t really on the way, but she made a detour. Her mum didn’t get much free time unless it was in the evening to go out shopping, and by then, places like this were usually shut. Getting her some baby wipes was the least Marinette could do.

She wandered up and down the aisles and grabbed two packets of wipes when she found them, which were, unfortunately, next to the sexual health products. She blushed just looking at them. She should be getting past that stage now. Her and Adrien had done… well, it wasn’t loads, but it was enough. And she still couldn’t even think about it without going pink. But she wanted to do more with him. She definitely did. Maybe they could do something at Christmas? And he’d suggested that she buy some underwear for the next time they do things. Maybe she could get some for when he came at Christmas?

Marinette’s blush deepened. Nope. No way. That was too soon. But Valentine’s Day seemed more reasonable. She would try for then. She didn’t want Adrien to feel like he was the one always initiating things, like he was the only who wanted this. She wanted it, too. She just wasn’t sure how to express it without getting embarrassed.

Speaking of initiating things, though… Marinette’s eyes briefly scanned the shelves and she spotted the condoms. Should she get some? She knew Adrien had some, but what if he forgot to bring them when he came to Paris? He could always buy some more, she reasoned. And her father would kill her if he found condoms in her bedroom. Not that he went snooping or anything like that, but he would murder her, swiftly followed by Adrien.

But she needed to take some precautions. Everything her and Adrien were doing was obviously building up to having sex. She should probably take some birth control tablets. But what kind? She knew nothing about them. Could you even buy them? Did you need a prescription from the doctors first?

Marinette sighed and trundled to the tills to pay for the baby wipes. She would have to talk to her mum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Just a quick note:  
> You've probably noticed that this story has two fairly short chapters (like 3-4 pages long in a word document), followed by a longer one (as in like 20 pages long in a word document KILL ME). This is going to be the general format of the story for the most part as there is no chance in hell I can do regular updates if all the chapters are like 20 pages long. I hope this is okay with you all! (●´ω｀●)
> 
> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has a stalker.

**Wednesday 12 th December**

‘So… how about it?’ the girl asked, fluttering her eyelashes as she drew her fingertip round in the dust that had gathered at the edge of Adrien’s desk. Her name was Lydia and they had been paired up for their geography class by Mlle Bracker. He had never spoken to this girl before today, and she had seemed perfectly nice, up until she had started flirting with him.

He was surprised that he had noticed it. He had taken an age to properly acknowledge Marinette’s existence, but Lydia was even more flirtatious than Lila had ever been. It would be hard to miss.

‘Ah, I’m sorry, but I have plans later,’ he said. He would normally add, “perhaps another time”, but he was pretty certain she was asking him out on a date. There wouldn’t be another time. He planned on being with Marinette for forever and a day.

‘Oh, come on. Just one date to the cinema. What harm could it do? I’m sure your other plans can wait.’

Adrien grimaced. So she _was_ asking him out on a date. ‘Look, Lydia, I’m really flattered, but I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I have a girlfriend.’

She didn’t lean away from him and apologise, though. ‘Oh, she won’t mind. Besides, I’m probably much better looking than her.’

‘Okay, I’m going to pretend you did not just say that.’ Adrien said as he grabbed his bag from under the desk. It was the end of the day, and Noah and Noelle were waiting outside for him to walk home together. He didn’t want to stick around to listen to Lydia talk shit about his wonderful Lady.

‘Oh, come on. You probably don’t even have a girlfriend. That’s just something guys do when they don’t want to date someone.’

He didn’t bother to reply. He knew if he did, he could just regret what he wanted to say to her. Instead, he stood up and left the classroom.

Noah and Noelle were stood outside it, bickering lightly, but they stopped when they saw Adrien and smiled.

‘What did Lydia want?’ Noelle asked as they began to walk home. It turned out the twins only lived a few streets away from Adrien, and they had just recently begun walking home together. He only went once a week with them, since the Gorilla picked him up the other four days to take him to his Chinese, piano, and fencing lessons, but he enjoyed the walk with his friends.

‘She asked me out, then when I rejected her, she proceeded to tell me that my girlfriend was either ugly or non-existent.’

Oddly, neither of the twins seemed to be surprised. ‘Just ignore her,’ Noah said. ‘She was the same way with me when I first got together with Mia. She seems to have a thing for guys in relationships.’

Adrien nodded. He didn’t want to have to listen to someone talking about Marinette like that again.

They carried on chatting as they crossed the road, and out of the corner of his eye, Adrien saw Lydia a few metres behind them. She was probably just walking home herself. But after twenty minutes and Noah and Noelle had left, Lydia was still following him. There was a simple explanation: Lydia just happened to live around here. But there might have been another explanation.

To make sure, once he rounded the next corner, he dashed down the nearest alleyway, clinging to the shadows, and Plagg poked his head out of his coat pocket.

‘Hiding from a stalker, kid?’ the kwami asked.

‘Maybe. We’ll see in a minute,’ Adrien whispered.

The pair stayed silent, and a moment later, Lydia appeared at the end of the alleyway. She looked this way and that, then muttered, ‘where did he go?’

She huffed then turned and went back the way she came.

‘Looks like you were right, kid. Gonna tell Marinette?’

Adrien bit his lip. He would want to know if a guy had done the same to her, but he didn’t want to have to tell her what Lydia said. He didn’t want to worry her either. But they needed to communicate better. He shouldn’t hide this from her. ‘Yes.’

‘Good choice.’

The two walked home, and as soon as Adrien was in his bedroom, he called Marinette on Skype.

She answered straight away with a sleepy smile on her face. ‘Hey, kitty.’ She had been woken earlier than usual this morning to help Mr Damocles rescue a litter of kittens and their mother. She hadn’t been in any danger, but as soon as she got back, she had texted Adrien to let him know what had happened. He had to tell her about Lydia.

‘Hi, baby. I missed you today.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah. We had to work in pairs in geography class today and I wished it was with you.’

Marinette flashed him a pretty smile, one that made his heart race. Not that she didn’t always make his heart race. ‘Who did you work with instead?’

‘I need to talk to you about that actually.’ He looked down at the keyboard, not wanting to see Marinette’s reaction when he told her this. ‘Miss Bracker paired me up with this girl called Lydia. I’ve never really spoken to her before today, but then she started flirting with me. I promise I didn’t lead her on or encourage her, but then at the end of class, she asked me out. I said no, obviously, and told her I had a girlfriend, but then she said you were probably ugly, which you are not, you’re definitely not, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, but then she said you probably didn’t even exist and I was just saying I had a girlfriend so it would be an easy way out of turning her down.

‘I didn’t want to argue, so I just left and walked home with Noah and his sister and I noticed she was following us. I didn’t think much of it, you know, she could live on that route, but the nearer I got to home, she was still there. I hid in an alleyway and she turned back the way she came as she had lost me.’

There was a moment of silence.

‘Look at me, Adrien.’

He did and saw she had tears in her eyes, as well as a mix of emotions. There was anger, but not anger at him, and something that seemed like jealousy.

‘First of all, are you okay?’

The blond man nodded. ‘I’m fine. I mean, the worst she could have done would be to just know where I lived, which isn’t ideal, but it’s not so bad. I don’ think she’d try to hurt me physically, and if she did, I’m more than strong enough to defend myself, and I do have a bodyguard after all. Was I right to tell you?’

Marinette nodded quickly. ‘Yes, yes, of course. She hasn’t done this before, right?’

‘No. Like I said, I’ve never spoken to her until today. The people you saw at my Halloween party were all from my class, but that wasn’t everyone. They were just the ones who I had made friends with. I barely knew who she was until this afternoon. What do I do about it?’

‘She shouldn’t be allowed to get away with stalking you,’ Marinette said as she folded her arms across her chest. ‘You need to talk to your head teacher, or at least Miss Bracker. Or Nathalie.’

‘I know, but I spoke to Noah about it and this doesn’t seem to be the first time she’s done it the guys at my school. I don’t think it would make much difference.’

‘Then… right, you still have the framed photo I gave you of the two of us dancing?’

Adrien nodded. ‘Of course.’

‘Put it in your school bag, right now, then in the morning, put it on your desk at school facing outwards. And if she gives you anymore problems, ring me straight away.’

He was taken aback by how heated and angry she sounded. She hardly ever got like this. ‘Mari, are you by any chance… jealous?’

‘Yeah, I am! She’s flirting with you and stalking you! And I already had enough of that from Lila, and then there was Kagami and don’t get me started on Kagami.’

‘You didn’t like Kagami?’

‘No, I didn’t like Kagami! Why would I like your first girlfriend? Not to mention she knew how I felt about you and basically told me that she was going to take you.’

Adrien’s eyes widened. Kagami had seemed nice to him, and whilst he had never had any feelings for her, he didn’t know she had acted like that. ‘Okay, firstly, Kagami was never my girlfriend. _You_ are my first girlfriend. And when did she say this?’

Marinette got shy all of a sudden. ‘I’m sorry, it was ages ago. I shouldn’t have said anything.’

‘No, tell me.’

She sighed. ‘We were in the second year of high school, and it was when we had that double date at the skating rink and our teacher got akumatised.’

Adrien’s expression darkened as he remembered that day and how Luka had followed _his_ Marinette around like a lost puppy. Not that he had any right to call her his on that day since he was still being stupid and had apparently never developed enough brain capacity to realise that she had been his Lady all along. ‘If it’s any consolation, I didn’t like Luka either. I tried to get on with him, but our personalities just seemed to clash. Even though I wasn’t sure how I felt about you at the time, whenever I saw him around you, it made so jealous. You don’t still talk to him, right?’

Marinette shook her head. ‘Not for about two years now. What about Kagami?’

‘About the same. My dad approved of me having a relationship with her, but she’s no Ladybug.’

She smiled. ‘That’s good to hear.’

‘I’m sorry if I made you jealous. Both because of Lydia and Kagami.’

‘Don’t apologise. Lydia wasn’t your fault, and we weren’t together when Kagami was around. But I’m serious about the photo. I can’t do much from a different country but I can at least do this.’

‘I’ll put it in my bag right now.’ He got up from the desk and grabbed the frame from his bedside table, wrapped it in an old t-shirt, then slotted it between his geography and science books in his bag before returning to his computer. ‘We’ve not got long to go until we see each other again, baby.’

The nickname turned Marinette bright pink. ‘I know. I’ve been counting down the days. Hey, speaking of which, did you manage to get a Ladybug advent calendar?’

Adrien folded his arms, a little grumpy now. ‘No. They don’t sell them here.’

‘Then it’s a good job I got you one! I mean, you’ll have a lot of chocolates to eat on the twenty-first when you arrive, but I don’t mind helping…’

‘Hey, they’re all mine. You’ll have had one chocolate everyday already, plus you live above a bakery. You get sweets whenever you want. I’m still barely allowed them.’

Marinette giggled. ‘Alright, chaton. You can eat them all.’

‘Good. Oh, we’ve booked the hotel by the way. We’ll be staying at Chloé’s. It’ll be good to see her. It’s not like she can run away from me if I’m staying where she lives. But,’ he quickly added on the end when he saw Marinette’s smile drop a little, ‘I will be spending every moment I can with you, including nights.’

‘Good.’

Adrien smiled. ‘This is going to sound silly, but I really want to kiss you on your balcony when I come at night as Chat. I haven’t told you this before, but when I came to visit you as him at night, I started to develop feelings for you. I tried to ignore it, because I was so in love with Ladybug, and I was too stupid to realise you were exactly the same person.’

‘Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘Because I thought you hated me. I didn’t know you were just painfully shy.’

‘Hey, I’m not _that_ shy.’

Adrien waggled his eyebrows. ‘No, I wouldn’t say you are anymore after what happened at my Halloween party.’

Marinette rolled her eyes. ‘If you carry on talking about it, you won’t get to do anything else when you come over.’

‘Oh? So there’ll be more.’

Her blush darkened. ‘Come on, let’s get on with homework.’

They both got out their exercise books, staying silent for the most part until one of them needed help. An hour and a half later, they were both finished and slightly tired, and Marinette’s parents were calling for her to come down for dinner.

‘I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Let me know how it goes. And by the way, two things.’ She glanced away from the camera. ‘I had a bit of a crush on Chat, too, and… I’m really looking forward to doing more _stuff_ when you come over this Christmas.’

Adrien blushed now. ‘Marinette-’

‘Got to go! Love you!’

‘Hey, wait!’

The call ended and Adrien sat back in his desk chair. Knowing his Lady had liked him all along as his Chat persona made him feel all warm and happy, but also knowing that she wanted to do more things, more _sexual_ things, made him feel something else.

‘So, do you have anything planned?’ Plagg asked from where he was sat eating cheese on the bed, having listened to their whole conversation.

Adrien turned around and glared at him. ‘No. And even if I did I wouldn’t tell you anyway. You’d blurt it out the moment you saw Marinette.’

Plagg rolled his eyes. ‘Do you not know me by now? The moment I see Marinette, I’ll kiss my sugar cube. _Then_ I’d tell her wearer what-’

Adrien threw his cultural studies book at Plagg before he could finish that sentence. He was never talking about sex in front of Plagg ever again.

…

**Thursday 13 th December**

The Gorilla dropped Adrien off at school earlier than usual and he raced to his classroom. No one else was there, so he ambled happily to his desk and carefully took out the photo frame of him and Marinette. He propped it up on his desk, but for now, kept it facing towards him. He hadn’t liked sleeping without it on his bedside table last night. He knew a picture of her wouldn’t make her be there with him, and he already had another picture of her set to his phone lock screen, not to mention he usually slept cuddling pieces of her clothing, but that photo held a lot of meaning to him. Marinette had given it to him right before she revealed that she was Ladybug, after all.

He got his books out then, and more students began to file into the classroom, one of them being Noah, who smiled when he saw the frame.

‘Dude, that’s super cute. How old were you?’

‘In the photo? Fourteen.’

‘So, you and Marinette have been together for four years? That’s impressive, man.’

Adrien blushed. ‘Actually, we’ve only been together since the end of August.’

Noah chuckled. ‘It looks like you could have been a couple way sooner.’

‘I know. We were just stupid. But we’re trying to make up for it. Even though we live in different countries.’

‘But you’re going back, right? After school is done?’

The blond nodded. ‘As soon as that last bell goes, I’ll be out of here like lightning.’

Noah laughed, but he stopped prematurely. ‘Dude, Lydia at ten o’clock.’

Adrien quickly turned the photo frame so it faced outwards, and Lydia glared at it as she climbed up to Adrien’s desk.

‘Do you expect me to believe this is your girlfriend? You both look about ten years old in this photo!’

He rolled his eyes and held up his phone lock screen, showing a more recent photo of Marinette. ‘We were fourteen. And I think you can clearly tell by that photo just how long we’ve loved each other for. And we will still love each other just as much today. So the next time you think it’s okay to bitch about my girlfriend like that, a lady whom I plan to marry, or decide to follow me halfway home, I will be talking to the head teacher. Are we clear?’

With a huff, Lydia turned around and went to her seat at the front, and Adrien turned the photo back around to face him.

‘You want to marry her?’ Noah asked after a moment, and Adrien’s eyes widened. He hadn’t realised he had said that. But he realised he did. He really did.

‘Yeah. I do.’

Noah grinned. ‘Then I expect an invite, dude!’

Adrien returned his smile and took out his phone.

_To: Bugaboo_ _♥_ _‿_ _♥_

_It worked! :* Thank you, baby <3_

_From: Bugaboo_ _♥_ _‿_ _♥_

_Knew it would! Do the same for any other girl who tries it on with you._

Adrien rolled his eyes fondly.

_To: Bugaboo_ _♥_ _‿_ _♥_

_I would say the same for you, but I’m pretty sure everyone in Paris knows you’re in love with me ;)_

_From: Bugaboo_ _♥_ _‿_ _♥_

_Rude_

_To: Bugaboo_ _♥_ _‿_ _♥_

_I love you, too, princess :* xxxxxx_

He pocketed his phone, then looked back at the photo frame with a smile. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Marinette, so that obviously meant getting married, but he couldn’t believe he hadn’t even realised that until now. But the more he thought about it; the more and more he wanted to do it. But not yet. Even though they had loved each other for years, they hadn’t been together for long, but if it all worked out, if they could get through this year apart, then on the day he moved back to Paris, he was going to propose to Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly did not expect for that to turn out that way or for that much to be revealed :3
> 
> Oh, and the x's on the end of Adrien's text are kisses. I'm British, that's what we do :D
> 
> [Tumblr](http://www.lilacchocolate.tumblr.com)


End file.
